Welcome to the Real World
by docterwholock
Summary: [A/U]Levy, desperate for a job, saw an ad for a bookstore: Perfect for her, right? WRONG! Turns out that the 'bookstore' is of the adult variety. While she cringes at the thought of what she'd be selling, the pay and perks were too good to resist. Or so she thought until she realizes that some of her co-workers are more terrifying than the idea of peddling porn.[other pairs poss.]
1. Chapter 1

**[Disclaimer: I own nothing...This is just for fun!] **

**[A/N: My brain is currently fried, meaning that I can't think of developing plot at the moment. Once my mind has solidified from the mush the school year has turned it into, there will be an update to ****_Love Like Winter_****. For right now, going to play with an idea I got from watching the trailer and some scenes that a friend sent me of the movie ****_Adult World_**** (I love Evan Peters, and she knows it). While watching these, I though how this situation could work well for Levy and Gajeel. I didn't see the movie—so this isn't a retelling, just an inspiration.]**

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**1: Desperate Times…**

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Levy had paced down the block over a dozen times, a blister was starting to form on both of her pinkie toes. The strapping sandals she had put on that morning had been a bad choice. Not that she had known where her search would lead her when she struck out to hunt for a job that morning.

She had assumed when she saw 'bookstore' in the classified ad it would be of the classical nature. A serene place that smelled of new books and possibly coffee. Her two favorite scents in the world. What she had encountered when she reached the address, something she checked each time her pacing led her in front of the non-script building, were neon signs hanging in windows treated so those inside could look out but those outside could not look out that proclaimed the establishment being catered towards 'adult' entertainment.

In layman's terms, a porn shop.

Levy couldn't work at a porn shop. Just imagining the kind of depraved clientele that would frequent the business was enough to make her shudder and want to hide. Yet, she thought as she passed the door—complete with an awkwardly cheerful 'open' sign before the notice concerning the need for work—it was one of the few places that she was certain would hire her without a lengthy process.

And she needed money as soon as possible.

"Excuse me?"

"I have mace!" Levy yelled out, startling at the voice speaking behind her. Keys in hand, she turned about to face her assailant, and was met with large blue eyes on an impossibly beautiful face.

A young woman, silver-white hair cascading over her shoulders and tumbling down her back, gave Levy a smile she was certain would shame the angels. The demurity of her ankle-length skirt was off-set by the tight halter she wore, cut low enough to allow a generous amount of amble cleavage to be on display.

"Are you interested in the job?" A perfectly manicured hand pointed towards the sign. Not deterred when all Levy did was continue to stare, the woman continued to smile. "Sorry to have frightened you, I just noticed that you kept passing by and thought I would introduce myself. I'm Mirajane."

"Um…sorry…Levy McGarden." She took the offered hand, trying to regain her composure. Surly this elegant beauty didn't work in such a seedy place.

"Well, Levy-chan, are you interested?"

"In what?"

"The job." There was a bubble of silver laughter in Mirajane's voice. "I'll be honest, we're hard pressed for a new cashier after one of our employees went off and got married."

"Um…" Levy couldn't keep her eyes from darting about, noticing all the people strolling about in clear sight. Able to see where she was and deduce some type of theory as to why she was there.

Mirajane caught the action and showed no sign of offense. In fact, her smile turned sympathetic as she gave a slight nod back towards the door. "Would you like to go inside and discuss this?"

"Yes," Levy couldn't withhold a sigh, "thank-you."

The store within wasn't as bad as Levy feared. She had envisioned rickety shelves full of movies, the covers of which had to be censored in her mind, resting on a carpet with questionable stains and possible mold growth. A place of dark alcoves used for male patrons to pleasure themselves in semi-privacy.

What truth held was a neatly-arranged, clean space. The merchandise was displayed as discreetly and tasteful as Levy suspected would be able for the store genre. The lighting was low, but not enough to inspire saxophone-make-out to play over the sound system, and security cameras were on clear display to discourage any deviant acts…or stealing.

Stepping behind the counter, a glass case used to display more costly materials, Mirajane pulled out a folder from one of the drawers set into the wall. "Have you had any sales experience before?"

"No…" Levy answered without thinking, staring at a party kit for a bachelorette party. Apparently it included an array of phallic inspired devices…and a cake pan. "Well, a bit." Pulling her eyes away from the sight, she tried to cover her mistake and give Mirajane her full attention. "I worked in the university's student union a few nights a week while I was a student."

"Oh, what did you study?"

"Literature."

"Wonderful." Catching Levy's confused expression, Mirajane pulled out a sheet of paper and started writing something down. "We get in an good number of erotic literary magazines. I could use some sound advice on what has substance and what is plain PWP…porn without plot." She clarified. "We sell both, but we like to organize the shelf so customers don't have to linger. I think you would understand when I say that some are skittish. If they can't find what they want right away, they tend to bolt."

Not sure what else to do, Levy nodded, smoothing her hands down the flowing shirt that nearly covered her shorts completely.

"Would you be opened for all shifts, or do you have a restricted schedule?"

"I could work whenever." Why was she answering all these questions when she wasn't sure if she could manage to hold such a job? "Though…I would prefer not to work late night."

"Of course. We rarely ever have female employees work graveyard. Our clientele is mostly a good, harmless lot. But there is always the risk of some unknown coming in, and security cameras only discourage to a certain degree."

"We?" Levy had thought, at first, that Mirajane was the average employee. Now, she was starting to suspect otherwise.

"There are three of us, though Makarov—the official owner, meaning his name is on the deed—is retired in all things but name. His grandson, Laxus, and I became co-managers and basically run the day-to-day." Continuing to write, looking at Levy while she did so, Mirajane continued her explanation without need to see the words she was jaunting down. "There are four other employees, three boys and one other girl. All a bit rough about the edges, but—as you'll find out—are golden at heart…for the most part." The add on was a bit discerning. "We normally do two shifts of two during the day with someone staying at the store for the overnight crowd. Like I said, you won't have to worry about that."

The door opened, admitting two men. One tall and thin and other other equally as tall, but far more heavy in weight.

"Hello Droy, Jet." Mirajane tucked a lock of her hair behind an ear and greeted the customers in the same manner that Levy had been taught to do at the union. "Do you want to hear about our new releases? There was a video or two that Laxus had Natsu set aside for you to look over."

Neither men seemed to notice Mirajane's words. Eyes riveted on where Levy stood.

"Ah, yes." Blue eyes turned analyzing while looking Levy over once more. "Levy, how about we finish this in the back office?" Motioning the blue-haired girl thought the door she had to unlock, Mirajane commented over her shoulder to the duo that she would be back in a moment.

"Awkward gay fetish?" Levy guessed about the reason for her exile once the door was shut behind them.

It was Mirajane's turn to pause before breaking into delighted laughter. "No. Droy and Jet are straight, as far as I know…at least in their selections. They both suffer from having an appetite for adorable doll-types. Didn't think that you wanted to be leered at. We don't have a dress-code here, but I would recommend that—unless you are comfortable with being ogled—you should stick to jeans and T-shirts. Safest bet."

Levy nodded, suddenly aware of the ribbon she had used to tie back her hair. She never had to worry about men being aroused by the sight of her petite body and the delicate clothing she preferred to wear, and now she felt almost tainted.

Not even employed, and this job had managed to sully her outlook on life.

This wasn't going to work.

There was no way.

Something she was going to inform Mirajane on, along with a gracious thanks for being considered, when she was steered into an office of sorts. Along with the desk—hosting an out of date computer—and several filing cabinets there was a small table with a few chairs and a mini fridge tucked in the corner beside it. An antique clock-out device hang on the wall beside the door.

"I'm not going to lie to you, this isn't a glamorous job. There will be days that you feel defiled merely from talking to a certain customer or unpacking a box of merchandise. On these days, you simply have to remind yourself that this is a job. Nothing more. We sell a product in demand with specific crowds. A job that pays well."

"How well?" Where did that come from? Surely not her, not when she just decided to turn down the possible offer.

"Very. Along with being paid every Friday, you will gain benefits after your first ninety days of employment."

Benefits?

Like Levy would no longer have to fear every time she sneezed meaning a far more dire matter than a cold?

Greed was a treacherous master that prayed on all in moment of distress and weakness.

And Mirajane knew that she had Levy at that moment.

"When would be the earliest you could start?"

"Today."

Wait…What?

The answer had left Levy's mouth without her mind's consent.

Damn her desperate situation. She had graduated nearly six months ago, student loans were going to start being due and she had to drop her current career standards. None of the magazines or publishing houses that she applied to for positions as editor or assistant editor or agent or fact-checker or anything else that would legitimize her degree had responded favorably. With her savings running low, Levy needed a source of steady income. And refused to free-load off the good-will of her best friend, and current roommate, Lucy Heartfillia.

Unlike Levy, Lucy was from an affluent family. Though she had been disowned by her father, the trust her deceased mother's estate left in Lucy's name ensured that Levy's friend could be more selective in her job search and spend her days working away at her developing novel.

Sadly, this was turning into the best option for Levy's bleak situation.

May God have mercy on her soul.

"Wonderful." Marijane clapped her hands together in a near girlish manner at war with her mature body. "I'm going to go back to the store-front, before Jet and Droy try to take off with the Lolita blow-up doll. Gajeel should be back from his break any minute now, tell him that he's supposed to show you around." She left without another word or look. Door hinges opening marked her return to the sale's counter.

Seconds later, another door opened in the shop's opposite direction.

Heavy footsteps announcing the arrival of who Levy assumed to be Gajeel.

And, like so many things about the business, he wasn't what she expected. Going by Mirajane's appearance, Levy had hoped that there would be an underlining semblance of professionalism to all those employed. Hopes destroyed when the man stepped through the doorway.

She had been warned that there was no dress code, she had assumed that most would take this lightly. Such as wearing shorts or open-toed shoes…not to the degree illustrated by the giant standing before her. Black hair, worn in long tangles that desperately needed either a comb or a cut, was slicked back from a face made of harsh angles covered in an array of metal studs.

Ripped jeans tucked into scuffed combat boots and paired with a shirt so faded that what had once probably been black was a dingy gray. He resembled more of a bar bouncer than someone who worked in any form of sales, even in the seedy business of sex toys and erotic videos.

Crimson eyes narrowed at the sight of Levy standing in the middle of the space. A snapping action that made Levy start for the second time in less than an hour, and thinking to take out her mace once more.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Um…Levy?" Yes, she said this in the means of a question. His intimidating presence made her mind fracture and revolt.

Shucking off his flannel button-up, the man lifted a studded brow as he chucked it over the back of one of the chairs. "Did Laxus finally win the argument and Mirajane allowed him to hire a cage dancer?"

"No."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Mirajane just hired me…you're supposed to show me around."

Nostrils flaring, Gajeel marched back into the short corridor separating the employee section from the shop-front. "Fuck no." Levy meekly peeked out of the functioning office break-room and watched him nearly rip the door off its hinges. Showing where Mirajane was waiting for him on the other side.

"No." There was a stern-authority to the young woman that hadn't been present while talking to Levy. "There are customers present."

"They will eat her alive." Gajeel lowered his voice, but the words came out in a whispered snarl. Levy had to strain her ears to eavesdrop. "We'd be better short-staffed than having to deal with her coming around crying every time some guy makes a grab at her ass. Which you know they will do."

"I think she can handle it."

"Come on, she is wearing a fucking ribbon for crying out loud. We might as well write 'Fetish Bait' on her and put her in a cat-girl outfit."

"That's none of your concern, all you have to do is train her. And this is not up for negotiation." Mirajane added when the set of Gajeel's shoulders spoke of his preparation of declining. "We need more female workers, it's the only way to bring in female clientele. With Bisca getting knocked-up and running off to be with Alzack, our hands are tied and beyond desperate. So, man-up and deal or go home and throw your tantrum there." She probably couldn't see around the man's powerful build to see where Levy was spying.

Gajeel lowered his head, his words becoming harder to distinguish. Levy thought he said something along the lines of, "If something happens to her, it's on you."

"Like I said, this is nothing for you to be concerned about beyond making sure she knows how to do the job."

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**[A/N: As usual, please forgive any/all typoes...wrote this in a bit of a rush, but wanted to post something for you guys while I had the time. Please, tell me what you think.]**


	2. Chapter 2

**[Disclaimer: I own nothing...This is just for fun!]**

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**2: Unexpected Encounters…**

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With all things, when Levy found herself in an unknown situation her first response was to research her ignorance away. Which was how she gained several hours of new-found knowledge on things that she could have happily gone her whole life without knowing.

Apparently, silicone never sagged. Weird granny porn—an example of something Levy wished she could forget the existence of—consisted of geriatric women sporting breasts that put Levy's minute bra-size to shame while the rest of their skin had gone soft and wrinkled. And some women, breast cancer survivors, didn't gain new nipples with their reconstruction and merely tattooed the features on and opting to go without under-wire.*

She learned that there was a job title of 'fluffer' and all that the job entailed, and the fact that there were conventions dedicated to the porn industries.

And the images she wondered into of penis pumps were enough to give her nightmares for months to come.

"Levy! How did the search go?" Lucy called out her greeting, dropping bags at the apartment's door and tossing her keys into the bowl resting on a shelf of one of the many bookcases that took up most of the available wall space. What happened when two bookworms decided to split renting fees.

The announcement forced Levy to slam her laptop shut, acting as if she had been caught watching porn…which she essentially was. Currently browsing a wiki link regarding a detailed summary of all that pertained to the world of S&M.

"Um…" Clearing her throat, Levy smoothed her hands down her shorts and stepped into the common area and made sure that her bedroom was sealed from sight. As if there was a glaring sign hanging above her desk that proclaimed her wondering into deviant grounds. "It went alright. Found a job."

Checking her reflection in the mirror, Lucy looked over her shoulder at where Levy flopped down on their couch. "Really? At the bookstore?"

"Yep." Sure, she'll go with that. No need to say what kind of bookstore it was. "I started training a bit this afternoon."

"And," tightening her side ponytail, Lucy lounged down on an armchair, "what do you think?"

"It's…not what I expected." Understatement of Levy's life. "I think it's safe to say that the guy who's training me kind of hates my very existence."

Lucy's brown eyes widened in shock, not able to comprehend someone finding instant fault in Levy's docile nature. "Why?"

"Don't know. I guess he just doesn't like babysitting."

The extent of Gajeel's training was reluctantly taking Levy back into a stockroom, cut open a box with a butterfly knife kept in his back pocket, and told her to start sorting and documenting the DVDs within. There were two types of videos at the store, those that were rented for the night and those bought to have and to hold…pun intended. Levy had to mark the rental rate on the former type and the purchasing price on the latter. Then, once costs were stickered on, she had to put in stacks due to sexual preference, age range, fetish, and the level of intensity.

If she didn't have body issues with how delicate her build was prior to that afternoon, she did now. Not aided on seeing how her friend filled-out her strapless sundress.

"My theory is to learn all I can right away, so he doesn't have to loom over me." Looming was something Gajeel seemed to be born to do. Came with being so tall. Not that he stayed with her more than necessary. Giving her a task and then checking in on time to snap about something else she could be doing.

"Well, hopefully, a magazine or paper wises up and accepts your application soon. Then you don't have to deal with him anymore." Standing once more, Lucy held out a hand to Levy. "Now, come on, we're going to celebrate."

"Celebrate?"

"Your job, and the prospect of leaving one day for bigger and better things. My treat."

"That's not necessary."

"Yes, it is." Giving Levy another tug, she got her friend to stand. "Now, get changed."

Levy looked down at her outfit, the same one she had been wearing during her trip to the bookstore. Maybe Lucy could see the taint lingering on the garments. "Why? What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing, just a bit too simple."

"Where are we going?"

Skipping towards her room, Lucy sang back. "You'll see." Never a comforting sentiment when coming from the blonde.

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They ended up at their favorite bar, where they went during college when finals was making their minds break, sitting at their usual stools at the counter. Loke, the bartender, ensured that the spots were always available for his 'favorite' girls. That night, he had to kick a pair of Frat boys away when he saw Lucy, the object of his affection, enter.

Levy suspected that the visit had less to do about her and more from Lucy's desire to see the orange-haired man, wearing his usual suit and sunglasses. Not that she felt her friend had feelings beyond the enjoyment of mild flirtation, knowing anything more would get her assaulted by his seemingly endless army of fangirls, it was just apparent that Lucy enjoyed the attention. Especially when her day turned dark. Making Levy wonder how her friend had spent her day, and causing her to feel like a terrible friend for not asking.

"Finally, my beautiful goddess decided to come and end my endless suffering." Loke didn't need to ask what they were drinking, he automatically started mixing up their usual orders. "And she brought about my favorite angel," he added with a wink at Levy.

"Hi Loke." The two said in unison, accepting the glasses he offered with smiles.

"To what do I owe this honor?"

"Levy got a job."

"Well, congratulations angel." Loke pushed the offered money back towards them with a shake of his head. Locks of orange fell across his face, reminding Levy that his many admirers liked to refer to him as their lion. "On the house."

Lucy smiled, knowing that this would be the outcome.

Levy rolled her eyes, but lifted her drink in thanks before hopping down from her stool. She wasn't much of a dancer, not liking to be crammed onto some packed floor...where perverts could have a valid excuse to rub against her.

Ironic?

A bit.

Rather than join the dancing crowd, she went to the jukebox and contemplated what to play first. There was a grouping of songs that were present merely because the owner, a man she had never met but Loke seemed to be free with talking about, knew how much Levy loved them.

Songs that began to play with the first quarter to drop.

"Who turned on this shit?" A voice grated against the mellow melody coming through the sound system. Levy eyes narrowed in the speaker's general direction, mostly only back of diners' heads in sight. The jukebox being in the bar's back corner and out of the way of the main area.

One of the few exceptions was a for the one man, sitting near the pool table, in the act of turning his head currently in profile. Levy noticed the long, black need of a comb and did nothing to cover the metal ranging about her face.

No…

Way…

Levy wanted nothing more than to duck out of his searching sight, so his red eyes couldn't discern that she was the one to put the offensive music on play and have further reason to hate her.

"Gajeel." The woman sitting at his table, hair as blue as Levy's but worn in thick curls, stole his attention before he turned the full way and saw where Levy stood. "You said that you wanted a quiet evening."

"No such thing with you. Not with every other word being about the stripper."

"Gray-sama is not a stripper!" The woman's raised tone spoke of this being a familiar with the man and the topic matter. More annoyed than angered with a child-like pound of her fist against the table's top. "And you're one to talk, what with working at Cana's nearly every night."

"I guard the door, not take off my clothes. A job that makes me money, by the way. Your obsession costs more than anything. How many vibrators have you bought off him just this week?"

The woman's pale face, classically beautiful in a distant way speaking of sorrow, reddened from a mortified blush. "That's…that's none of your concern!"

"Your room is right beside mine. We share a common wall for fuck's sake." Gajeel shook his head in what might be genuine dismay. "The things I heard can't be unheard."

Levy didn't know why she lingered when her mind was screaming for her legs to flee while they had the chance. Not only did she want to remain under Gajeel's notice, from the sounds of it—Gajeel found their afternoon together as unsatisfying as she had, but she wanted to prevent any possibility of Lucy wondering into the work environment that Levy found herself.

If she could help it, no part of her personal life would ever inter-grade into her professional.

And she just considered her position at a porn shop as a 'profession' aspect of her life.

How far she had fallen in less than a day.

That aside, it was undeniably interesting to know that Gajeel had someone in his life.

A roommate?

A sister?

A live-in friend with benefits that they have an open relationship with?

It was puzzling to think of him having any form of social interaction. A thought Levy chastised herself for the next moment. No matter how bad a foot the two of them stepped off on, there was no one who should ever be completely alone. Everyone needed someone to connect with. Friend or lover, she should be relieved to know that Gajeel couldn't possibly be the jerk she perceived him as.

A thought that lasted the span of a breath.

Then Gajeel turned to catch the waitress's attention, and it was too late for Levy to remember herself.

All possible well thoughts of Gajeel having a humane side were overshadowed and destroyed by the look she received.

Nope.

Nevermind.

It was impossible to believe that he could honestly care about someone. Not with such eyes. They might be bright in color, but there was a dark void dwelling at their heart that made chills crawl about her skin.

Portals to the soul.

If that was true, what did such beliefs say about the man she was now going to be working with?

Well, hopefully, she wouldn't be scheduled with him that often. Not after he made it known to Mirajane how much he was dissatisfied about the coupling situation. Surely, the manager would ensure that Levy worked with one of the other employees.

There were four others, not all could be as abrasive and ill-mannered as the man she slowly turned her back on. Aware of the danger in the act. Knowing that doing such with a rabid dog would only lead to being bitten and mauled.

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**[A/N: As usual, please forgive any/all typos...along with how short this chapter is. Found some free time and thought to post something. Wanted to post before sleep—not sure when next writing day will come. But got sick midway and had to wrap up sooner than I wanted. If/when I update next, it will be a far longer chapter.]**

***A woman I have known for years, close friend of the family, is a cancer survivor and tends to tell the best stories to retell. Some of the above information was given by her through narration about one job she worked or another.**


	3. Chapter 3

**[Disclaimer: I own nothing...This is just for fun!]**

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**3. Baffling Individuals…**

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The universe wasn't that kind.

Stepping in through the employee entrance, a metal door covered in crude graffiti in the alley beside the store, the first person Levy encountered was Gajeel in the act of clocking into his shift. He gave her the briefest of looks with the door creaking closed behind her. Time needed to take in her outfit: loose fitting jeans that had to hang on her hipbones…waistband not seen under the misshapen long sleeved T-shirt over a size too big for her petite body and battered high-tops she usual wore when doing some kind of manual labor. Hair pulled back into a simple ponytail, lacking in ribbons or any form of coifing, finished the unisexed appearance. Lacking in all forms of feminine appeal.

On her way there, an elderly man yelled at her to get a haircut. Under the misconception that she was a boy.

Without comment, either in approval or dissatisfaction, Gajeel took off his jacket—a cliché leather jacket weighed down by metal work…possibly more than what was on his face—before heading to the store front.

Levy went to do the same, locking in that is, when Gajeel's footsteps receded and two others approached. Creating an odd melody with arguing, masculine voices.

"—threw a dildo at my head!"

"Next time, Captain Underpants, I will not miss."

"Yes, you went easy on me this time and decided to take out those sorority twins instead. Nice thinking Flame Brain."

"They bought it."

"Because of you yelling 'you touch it you buy it!' in their faces."

"They knew I was joking!"

"They thought you were a serial killer."

"They laughed."

"Because it was the only way to stop themselves from screaming and triggering your murderous instinct."

The conversational track reached a lag as two young men stepped into the office-break-room and took in the sight of Levy with her punch card poised in the air.

"Hey! It's the new girl!" A pink-haired boy flashed her a smile seemingly too big for his face, displaying a set of eye-teeth a bit too sharp for Levy's liking, and boldly strolled up to Levy to take her hand in greeting. "Welcome abroad…Wait, I didn't mean that as some kind of a sexual pun. So, please don't report me to Mira," he said with a hearty laugh and a wink that almost seemed child-like.

Despite their manner being a complete reverse of manner, something about the boy reminded Levy of Gajeel. Maybe it was the teeth or, possibly, the attire. Though smaller in height and muscular bulk, he wore something that seemed to have come from the same closet as Gajeel's.

Ripped jeans tucked into boots and pair was a dark-blue beater with an unseasonable scarf wrapped about his neck. Not that he seemed bothered by any heat radiating from the excess of patterned material.

"Match-dick, take a step back. You're scaring the girl." The other scolded. His blunt words intimidating Levy as much as the other's close proximity. Black hair rumpled about to fall in cool gray eyes, allowing the natural blue highlights to appear, he stepped into the room—giving Levy a nod in greeting—on his way of opening his locker.

She was about to return the gesture when she realized he was standing in nothing but his boxers.

Catching her flaming blush and abrupt turn, the brunette quickly stepped into a pair of cargo pants. Chain hooked onto a belt loop and clipped onto the wallet he had tucked within a back pocket. "Oh, sorry. We're really not a shy group here—"

"You mean you're a closet stripper." The pink-haired man interjected.

"—you'll get used to it."

"Or you can keep your fucking pants on." The other shouted across the room.

"Natsu. Gray. Why don't you let Levy settle in, it's only her second day, before you start assaulting her with all…this?" Mirajane, dressed in an off-the-shoulder sundress, waved her hand towards the two; the act summing up their very intense essence, before she gave Levy a comforting smile. "Clocked-in?"

"Y-yes." Levy's voice was getting caught in the shocked knot tensing her throat.

"Well then, let's get you started on the register."

Remembering her manners on her way to follow Mirajane. Levy turned to give the two—Natsu and Gray…though she had no way of knowing which one was which— a polite bow in farewell. Yipping when she saw Natsu had begun to strip as well and Gray, for some reason, had removed his pants once more.

"They work a second job at a gym."

"Even with the pay they get here?" Levy had seen the figure she was going to be paid per-house, it had been enough to force her to cast all her doubts aside. Who knew that the porn industry was so lucrative?

A naïve question she could never voice, seeing that there was a long standing belief of sex being the optimum selling agent.

Laughing, Mirajane shook her head. "It's more from the inability to sit still than financial dependency. Something your other fellow co-workers share. Gray and Natsu work at my younger brother's place. Gajeel is a bouncer at a local…entertainment…bar." Even dressed as she was, Levy must appear too innocent for someone to say the word 'stripper' to. "And Erza…well, she does a bit of everything. One night she could be sitting on a board of directors as a guest speaker or expert. The next, she could e doing volunteer work with a neighborhood's watch." Opening the door, Mirajane waved Levy inside.

Gajeel was already behind the counter, sitting with his feet on the glass surface-top and watching a security monitor of the store's back end, where a man seemed to be contemplating whether he should rip off the cover of the _Playboy_ in his hand.

"Why don't you see if he needs anything?" Mirajane suggested to her male employee, underlining meaning known. "I'm sure Levy can handle the front."

Sighing, Gajeel disappeared amongst the stacks. His grumble of voice heard seconds later. Not loud enough for words to be discerned, but his displeasure being obvious none the less.

Nothing seemed able to falter Mirajane's sunny disposition. Voice still light with well-meaning sweetness, she instructed Levy on the basics of the cash-register—which was similar to the one she had used at the university—before going back to get office work done and leaving Levy to sink or swim.

Maybe there was a devil dwelling behind the silver-haired woman's beauty.

She had a customer the next moment, not the man Gajeel was still 'talking' to. This was a young woman Levy had seen hesitating outside the door when she had arrived for work.

"Excuse me…" The woman fidgeted with uncertainty. "I…um…"

Was feeling incredibly awkward being in a porn shop.

Levy could relate.

Maybe that was why she was about to flash a genuine smile for the first time since arrival. "Let me guess, you're looking for a gift for a friend. Possibly a gag gift?" Truth or not, phrasing things this way would put the woman more at ease with the transaction.

It would put them both at ease about the situation

Relief washed across her face, tension in her body easing. "Yes. Exactly."

"Well then, in that case it would depend on a few things. Mostly the person and occasion" Walking around the counter to stand at the woman's side, Levy indicated a display near the door. It hosted more of the mild novelty. "If this is for, let's say a bachelorette party, you could go for the standard food and party gimmicks." She motioned to the kit she had noticed the day before. "Or," she added when the woman didn't seem to find what she was looking for, "it could be for a different kind of gathering, a party game?"

The woman's head lifted.

Levy smiled, craning her head about until she saw boxed shapes of the perverted games she knew they had in stock. "Well then, you will find a variety of options in the third row. Would you like me to come with you?"

"No, thank-you."

"Well, feel free to tell me if you need anything else."

The woman nodded and went where Levy indicated, leaving her to collapse against the counter. Face waiting till all was clear to flame. And only then did she notice Gajeel standing behind her. Magazine man must have left.

Wincing, she expected either reprimanding for everything she did wrong during the transaction or to be berated for something else. Maybe shoved back into storage for more mindless sorting. Though—when she thought about it—Levy realized that there was a more effective means to go about organizing the space…

"How did you know to do that?"

Startling out of her line of thought, Levy fought the desire to grab the material in front of her heart. "What?"

"Talk to her."

"Um…wasn't that obvious?"

"It's obvious to steer her towards the play-games moments after she entered the door?"

"Sorry," twisting, Levy pressed her palms against the glass case and forced her brown eyes up to meet his disapproving red ones, "but I'm confused. Did I do something wrong?"

"Whatever. Just go work in the stock room."

Well, at least she got to try her organizing idea.

* * *

Always one to look for a silver-lining in matters such as this. Seeing that she apparently sucked at being a cashier, it was comforting that there was something at this store she was confident in her ability in.

That, and she had the foresight to bring her iPod. Humming with the music sped time along until she could clock out and no longer feel The Sword of Damocles hanging above her head. Expecting the moment when Gajeel would come back and bark out some form of insulting correction to her actions.

Head down and do the work asked, that was her decided course of action for the foreseeable future.

She was covered in roughly an inch of dust, visible sweat tracks forming on her skin from her labors, when her shift dwindled to an end. It must not have been a very busy day, seeing that Gajeel hadn't called for her once to help him with anything and Mirajane didn't force him to take advantage of an extra pair of hands available.

Being too short to reach the top shelf by herself and not knowing where a ladder was—none in direct sight or in obvious locations, Levy had climbed up onto the wide expanse. Wood creaking under her slight weight from where she sat on the ledge and worked her way through boxes. Sometime during her time laboring away, Levy exchanged her humming for singing the lyrics out loud.

She didn't possess a talented voice, mediocre at a generous best, yet loved to belt out sings at the top of her lungs when she was alone. Normally during times such as cleaning and taking a shower.

Something this situation appeared to fall under, no one being around except for herself and her voice being soft enough to be filtered out by the walls and boxes surrounding her…

Then someone touched her ankle.

A squeak ripped from her throat, stopping her mid-note and shocking her into toppling off her perch. This would be when her squeak turned into an all-out shriek of fright. Broken when her back—rather than crash onto the concrete floor with back-breaking force—landed onto a firm, yet gently yielding, surface that cradled the blunt of the impact.

"Fucking Hell, are you trying to kill yourself?" Gajeel, cradling her against his chest with only the aid of one arm, pulled out one of her ear-buds with the hand of his free. The heat of his anger clashing with the happy tune she had been singing along with seconds before.

"You scared me."

"I scared you? I came back here to tell you it's time to clock out…and I find you trying to be some kind of fucking acrobatic woman."

"You grabbed my ankle—"

"Because you were too busy singing to hear the three times I called out to you."

He was still holding onto her, making Levy uncomfortably aware of how the muscles of his torso flexed and moved against her side. A metallic scent drifted into her nostrils, probably from his piercings, mingled with a spicy scent that she could only go with the default explanation of being pure masculinity.

A mixture she was tempted to call 'delicious.'

On that frightening thought, she pressed her palms against his shoulders. Short legs seemed annoyingly pathetic in her current location. His bicep being nearly as big as her face and he seemed unable to feel her efforts to gain freedom. "Put me down…please."

Her legs wobbled from the abruptness he disposed of her, running his fingers through his as he took several steps away from her and contemplated the fruits of her labors. "What the fuck were you dong back here?"

"Organizing."

"It was already organized."

"Taking shipments and throwing them onto the first available shelf space is not an organizational system. It is the byproduct of an understaffed crew. Mirajane is the only one who seems to put in any effort."

"How can you possibly say that?"

Getting onto her tiptoes, Levy tapped a label on a box resting above her head. It was covered in handwriting that was clearly from a feminine hand and ended with the initials MS. "Going by what I heard, she is the only one who would have done this. All I did was go off what she was trying to accomplish, but was stretched too thin to complete, and build it to a slightly grander scale." She automatically went into explaining where everything was and why, mouth working on over-drive from the strain on her frazzled mind and rapidly beating heart.

Why wasn't she leaving?

Why was Gajeel lingering to listen to her prattle about?

"And it is beautiful." Mirajane said from behind the two, seeming to wipe a tear away from her blue eyes at the end of Levy's spontaneous tour of the stock room's new layout. "Oh, Levy-chan, I never thought that this place would ever be this orderly."

"Yeah…I give it three days before the Stripper or Salamander or Bolt fucks it up. And then Pip-Squeak will be where she started." Gajeel grumbled, stomping past Levy and Mirajane to the office-break-room.

"Pip-Squeak?"

"Don't take it personally, Levy. As you might have noticed, Gajeel tends to nickname everyone. It's his way of remembering you, seeing that remembering your given name is nearly impossible. So he breaks you down to the basic-most descriptor."

"What does he call you?"

Mirajane's laughter was colored with darkness. "Mirajane, like everyone else."

"Why are you the exception?"

"Because, the first time he tried to call me Boobs, he learned there are some things you don't use in regards to address a lady."

Whatever that lesson involved, Levy both yearned to learn…and was terrified to witness.

* * *

**[A/N: As usual, please forgive any/all typos.] **

**[Question: Do you guys want some chapters from Gajeel's POV…and do you want this story to have more plot or just be happy (and possibly smutty ^_^) fluff? And how would you feel about other couples joining the mix?]**


	4. Intermission 1

**[Disclaimer: I own nothing...This is just for fun!]**

**[A/N: Thank-you so much for all the reviews, alerts, and favorites. So…This is going to be a trail. Considering to put in snippets of Gajeel's POV as short intermissions—just a way to help the possible plot I've been considering develop. For those of you who want fluff—and smut—there will be plenty of that (and possible jealousy)…I just wanted a stronger thread tying everything together and moving events along.]**

* * *

**Intermission 1: Night Job… **

* * *

Working the door at Cana's wasn't as great of a job as most men would fantasize about. Tossing drunks about and walking the female employees to their cars wasn't Gajeel's idea of fun, and—in his opinion—three in the morning couldn't come fast enough. Maybe that was why Cana hired him in the first place; she knew there was no risk of him taking advantage of his position of guardianship.

Cana's wasn't a 'strip' club. It was merely a bar that employed attractive female bartenders, who liked to wear clothing along the lines of bikini tops and micro-minis or cut-offs, that periodically danced either on the counter top or—sometimes, and at their discretion—on the laps of well-paying patrons.

But not a strip club…

And, after spending hours at a porn shop on a daily basis, far too tame to get Gajeel worked-up.

Not even when Sasha, Cana's newest girl, fell into the rite of passage of trying to entice him. All of Cana's girls, but never the woman herself, had tried this at one point or another, not used to being ignored and not obviously lusted after. Where most took their defeat with a smile and the eventual polite relationship with him, revolving around his position of being their protector from potential rapists, Sasha was near relentless.

Exiting the backdoor, the leggy brunette happened to trip on her spiked heels and toppled into Gajeel's arms. The height making her close to Gajeel's six-one; her lips nearly in line with his. Her breasts pressed against his chest firmly enough that he could tell they weren't naturally that large. Most of her D-cups were stuffed with silicone.

"Thank Black Steel," she smiled while using the nickname Cana had given him years ago…and her workers just happened to learn. "Maybe I should just have you carry me home, seeing that I don't think I'm fit to drive." There was just enough note of jest in her voice to play down the sensual invitation.

Righting her, so Sasha could once again stand on her own feet, Gajeel wrapped his knuckles against the door's rusted surface. "I'll have the drunk," his name for Cana, "call you a cab."

Full lips—filled with collagen—pouted prettily, Sasha ran her fingertips down his torso and played with his belt buckle. "Why do you have to be so cold? Doesn't your bed get lonely with only your hand for warmth?"

"My bed is none of your concern."

"It is when I want to be in it, with you on top of me…don't you want me?" On asking, she hooks her thumbs through Gajeel's belt loops. Angling her body that, if he wanted, Gajeel could look down into her cleavage.

"No, not particularly," was his bluntly honest answer. Unlike a certain blue-haired midget, Gajeel was no innocent. Not one for relationships, he had a few women—none who worked for Cana or were clients at the store—who he had understandings with. They would meet-up, hook-up, and be on their way whenever either was feeling an itch.

No strings.

No promises.

No commitment.

He was pretty sure one might be married, but had yet to deal with a jealous husband. So…whatever. The point was, there was no expectation for 'courting' any of them out of their pants or making breakfast for them in the morning.

"Are you gay?"

"No."

"Then what's wrong with me?"

"Nothing, except I don't mix business with personal." Taking a noted look down, he added what was needed to end this headache, "Not to mention that I enjoy genuine. There's nothing appealing about a woman who's more plastic than flesh and never speaks what is honestly on her mind, going by some script she concocted before a conversation, by any means. Now, do you need me to walk you to your car or are you waiting inside for that cab?"

Mouth hanging open, reminding Gajeel of one of the shop's bestselling blow-up dolls, Sasha turned about and stormed back into the bar. Slamming the door behind her.

"Non, non, non. I see that you haven't gained manners or class since I last saw you. No?" The heavy accent cut through the darkness that filled the parking lot. The speaker was a slim man in a tweed suit, green hair nearly as pointed and styled as the mustache he twirled on stepping into the street lights' glow.

Not an impressive or intimidating sight by any means, but his arrival made Gajeel's spine tense and his hands to fist to white-knuckle extents. "Go away Sol, you have no reason to be here."

"Non, non, non." Waggling a finger, Sol leaned his long frame against Gajeel's motorcycle. Not by accident or coincidence. "Monsier Jose sees otherwise. You and Juvia have been very naughty, no? Leaving without notice nor care for what it would do to the rest on losing your personal merits."

"Juvia and I don't give a fuck about you and the rest. That's why we left in the first place."

"Well, Monsier Jose does not feel that way. He wants you two to return and be back to work soon. Consider this a notice, oui? You are expected to report in tomorrow."

"Go fuck yourself."

"As eloquent as always."

"I'm serious. Come near Juvia or me again, and I'll remind you why your _Monsier_ is so intent to my return to the fold." Gajeel made no moves towards Sol to make the weight of his threat known.

There was a fleeting moment, a breath of time, that Sol paled and lost his flare. Instantly replaced with a condescending smile. "I have done my duty, words being of no consequence to an uneducated brute such as yourself. Next time, I won't be the messenger. And words might not be the means of communication with the next messenger. Seeing that we all know pain is the median that can be used for you to learn."

"Go. Fuck. Yourself." Gajeel repeated, this time giving each word the strength of a complete sentence. Words falling on thin air, Sol having pulled his signature disappearing act on delivering his threat.

* * *

**[A/N: As usual, please forgive any/all typos.] **

**[Again, thank-you for all the support so far. Please, tell me what you think of this. f I continue this line of thought (and not simply take this part out of the story) such intermissions will probably not be numerous. Just brief glimpses into what is going on with things Levy is not a part of. f you guys hate this, I will scrap it. Not yet completely sure all I intent and, therefore, not completely set.]**

**[Next post will be a proper chapter and will be significantly longer.]**


	5. Chapter 4

**[Disclaimer: I own nothing...This is just for fun!]**

**[A/N: Ok, don't expect updates this regularly…my brain is just fried after a double shift. A shift I got through by daydreaming about what I want to put in this chapter. Hope you enjoy, and I am glad that so many of you liked the first intermission.]**

* * *

**4: Rule of Three…**

* * *

"Levy-chan! Good morning!" Bob, the owner of the host club next door, always seemed to dance when he walked. An odd sight for such a husky, gender-confused, man. Bald with man-boobs, he was wearing his usual amount of cosmetics and a low-cut camisole paired with a gold-link necklace and pink-pumps. Levy loved that, despite the fact that he always wore shorts, he never seemed to feel the need to shave his legs.

"Morning Bob." Levy returned his greeting with an equal amount of cheer. Unlike with some of the regular patrons, her smile wasn't forced when she leaned onto the counter and watched the middle-aged man make his way to the magazine section. Bob was an avid reader of the more legit, but still heavily erotic, literary magazines that the store kept in stock. "Some of your boys were already in today."

"Hibiki?"

Nodding, Levy rested her cheek against a fist. "And Ren. Eve is still too scared to pass the door."

"They all fancy you, you know."

"I thought Hibiki was dating Jenny. At least, that was how she was acting when she bought…" Remembering where she was, and the level of professionalism expected regardless of the merchandise sold. "You know, never mind."

"Spoil-sport." Placing his purchases onto the counter, Bob gently touched a knuckle to her temple. "Even if a man is _with_ a woman doesn't mean he can't be drawn to another. Those three can't help but be worried about a young—pretty, despite your best efforts to hide such-" his beady eyes took in Levy's non-flattering outfit with obvious distaste, "woman working in such a place…and with such a brute." Bob lifted his voice so Gajeel, who chose that moment to step-in from the backroom.

Blinking blood-shot eyes, clearly not pleased that he had been scheduled for the morning shift, Gajeel nearly snapped his teeth at the club owner before busying himself with stocking the product placed on the higher shelves. During Levy's month of employment, most of her shifts were with Gajeel. Natsu and Gray seeming to have a chaotic dynamic that seemed to work, while Erza—a frighteningly strong woman Levy only met on a few occasions—preferred to pull the grave yard. She and Gajeel had come to an unspoken understanding of how their shifts together should go. "Brute?"

"How long did you lock poor Levy away in that dusty back room?"

"She was organizing."

"I was." Levy unknowingly came to Gajeel's defense. After her first trek at rearranging things, Mirajane had requested Levy to do the same with all aspects of the shop. Even the paperwork, which Levy still hadn't completed. She could only work on that in the company of either Mirajane or the still unknown Laxus. "And it was so much fun."

"See, she thinks organizing shit is fun…and you wonder why I try to keep her away from clients."

Bob stuck his tongue out at Gajeel's back before returning his attention to Levy and lowering his voice. "It does make me happy that you two are getting along now. Was a bit worried when I saw that they kept forcing him upon you."

"Alright, that came out dirtier than you meant."

"Did it?" With a wink, Bob passed her the money and left before Levy could give him the significant amount of change he always left for her as a tip.

"Pip, catch." Gajeel dropped a box, aiming at Levy's waiting arms.

His nickname for her becoming commonplace enough that she automatically answered to it.

Shifting the way that the cardboard rested against her elbows, trying to prevent corners from painfully pressing into her skin, she gained a better advantage to read the label. "Ah, we're getting rid of Mommy Dearest?" Yes, the continuation of her internet research taught her an abundance of knowledge on the blow-up enterprise.

Mommy Dearest was modeled to appear like a stereo-typical fifties housewife. Complete with pearls and heals. Levy figured that her targeted demographic is that of men with severe mommy-issues. Wanting to go back to the days when they could breast-feed.

"She's going onto the discount rack."

"Yes, I can see the sale's pitch now: Fond childhood memories and double-D fondling for half the price."

The oddest thing happened with her statement: Gajeel laughed for the briefest of seconds. Nothing else was said between them, but Levy kept hearing a mental echo of the closest thing to merriment he had allowed himself to display since their first meeting.

Something that might have plagued her for the rest of the day if there hadn't been three events that held even greater impact.

The first was a meeting.

Near shift's end, when Gajeel and Levy were counting the register—in direct line of the security camera with one continuously checking the other by each taking notes of what was tallied and recounting if they came to differing totals. The shop was empty, the door lock to prevent anyone from entering while money rested outside the confines of the register, making the opening of the backdoor audible even where they stood. Along with the conversation that accompanied it.

"—hear about you two have been fighting over the heating and air-conditioning one more time—"

"He's trying to freeze my balls off!"

"No, it's just because you are a cold-blooded bastard that anything short of sweltering feels like your wiener-dick is going to break off like the puny icicle it is."

"Whatever, I don't care." Where Levy now knew the other two speakers without having to see them to know how this conversation would go, this third voice was new ground for her. "Keep your hands off the thermostat…or I will put it back into the cage, after having the old man come in and do _that_."

"No."

"Anything but _that_."

Levy looked up at Gajeel, looking for insight that she already knew that he wouldn't give.

He just shook his head and nodded to the money in her hands, reminding her that they didn't have time to waste. This had to be done before they could unlock the doors and allow the work-day to continue.

"Gajeel!" The unfamiliar voice called out. "Are you done with the count?"

"In a minute." Gajeel snapped back. "The Pip-Squeak is doing the last check."

"Who?"

"Levy." Natsu was the first one into the store front, walking backwards and talking to whoever still resided out of sight. "Mira hired her last month."

"And she is either the bottom of a lesbian couple, or a porcelain doll pretending not to be breakable. Either way, not Mirajane's best idea."

Levy considered Gajeel to be a large man. Tall, lean frame filled with powerful muscles, she would consider him frightening even without the piercings and scowl. The man, blond hair sticking about scarred face with appearance of being electrocuted…or suffering from major static electricity, who was analyzing her with cool grey eyes didn't seem…real.

He was too tall.

His build was too muscular. It was a wonder how his shoulders could fit through the door or how he managed to find clothing that didn't tear against the sheer strain of the harsh manner of his physique.

A nightmare.

He didn't have a neck.

Yes, that was the key factor that made Levy instinctively shrink closer to Gajeel. The amount of muscle on the man's shoulders robbed him of the full extent of his neck and was frightening enough, and what she did see being heavily corded, for her to see Gajeel as a lesser of two evils.

This had to be Laxus.

"She's not as useless as she looks, Bolt." Confirming Levy's suspicions, Gajeel tucked the signed and initialed tally slips at the bottom of the drawer before sliding the cash tray back into its proper place.

"Coming from you, that means nothing." Again, Laxus gave Levy a weighing look. "How old are you?"

Lifting her chin, Levy tried to hide how badly she wanted to shake. Her hands wanted nothing more than to fist the material of Gajeel's thread-bare button up, the first few left open with the sleeves rolled to his elbows. "Twenty-three."

"Right," Laxus gave a condescending snort, "next you'll tell me that you break five-feet."

"I am five feet!"

All four men looked at her with varying expressions of disbelief.

"Fine, I'm four-eleven-and-a-half."

The looks continued.

"Maybe on your driver's license." Gajeel grumbled. Was he teasing her?

"Four-ten." Levy muttered to her feet, wanting to elbow his side. A smile might be wanting to surface on her twitching lips. There being something suddenly comforting being at Gajeel's imposing side. Maybe it was along the lines of hostages suffering from Stockholm Syndrome; he was the one she was most familiar with in this situation, so she saw security in his barring.

"Thought as much." Laxus shook his head. "What is Mirajane trying to do?"

"Levy is doing a better job than Bisca ever could." Gray put in, from where he stood nearly forgotten along the wall.

"Not hard. Woman didn't even know to go on the pill."

"Levy, go take out the garbage before going home." Gajeel didn't try to be subtle in changing the conversation, just jerked his chin so Levy knew to get going. Clearly not wanting her to hear what was to follow.

Which led to the second occurrence.

This being an attack.

Getting on her tip-toes, Levy forced the dumpster open the slightest degree and began to force the garbage bag inside. And rolled her ankle for her efforts.

Sweaty hand caught her at the elbow, not so much stopping her from crashing to the ground and more from the desire of pulling her close and grasping her chest on her way down. "Not much there." The voice almost giggled. "But I'm not picky."

Screaming, Levy's arms frailed about. Hitting the man behind her in the stomach and gaining her a chance to scurry away…until a hand grabbed her ankle and pulled her back into the alley's filth. Muffling her screams.

Rather than her frightened shrieks, the tense silence—a vacuum created, removing the moment from an area just beyond what was normally a bustling street—was broken by a dull thud and a masculine cry of pain.

"Levy? You alright?" Warm hands helped the blue-haired girl onto her feet. Erza Scarlett unconsciously brushed off Levy's clothing with a bit more force than most would. Past her shoulder, there was an unconscious man.

"Yeah…yeah…" Levy refused to allow herself to cry in front of this formidable woman. "Just was taken by surprise."

"Well, they shouldn't have had you come out alone. I called Mirajane this morning about the reports of a pervert sneaking along this area. He stole some women's underwear from the lingerie store a block down."

"Mirajane had the day off."

"Right. How could I forget that Laxus was coming back from camping with his grandfather? His return being why I also have the evening free." Biting her lip, the red-head looked truly troubled over this matter. Startling Levy when she pulled into a bow of all things. "You have my sincere apology for not being able to give you forewarning and leading to you being attacked. Tell me how to make amends."

All Levy wanted to do was go home, wash the man off her, and dissolve into shaking.

"Go home." Erza said as if able to read Levy's mind. "I'll clock you out and call my connections at the police to retrieve him. That is unless you would like to make a statement—"

"No…no, thank-you." Levy was already walking away, waiting to break into a run until she no longer felt Erza's eyes on her.

* * *

Lucy honored the closed door to Levy's room. After the initial greeting, she allowed her friend to privacy when there was no response. Though, Levy knew that there would be a new book, possibly new pages of Lucy's on-going project, and a tray of cookies waiting outside her door when she decided to open it.

After spending a few hours of curled onto her mattress, the tremors gradually subsiding, Levy gathered her strength and climbed out of bed and got her coat.

She had left a book and all her personal matters, such as her wallet, in her locker at the shop. And the only way she would get past the anxiety of going out alone, something that could easily turn into a crippling fear is left uncheck, was to face it before phobia could take hold.

This led to the third and final occurrence.

When Levy reached a new low.

There are things so shocking, confusing, and possibly mortifying that, when witnessed, all forms of prober etiquette are forgotten. And are instantly seared into the mind to horrifying extents.

The door was unlocked to the employee entrance, but the lack of lights from the shop—which should still be opened—spoke of her being out of luck to gain access before her next shift. Erza had mentioned being off that night. Returning to the alley nearly severed Levy's fraying courage, expecting the door to be locked and giving a relieved sigh when it opened.

The hallway was as dark as the shop, only a silver of light coming from where the office-break-room was opened the briefest crack. Stepping into the golden path, Levy found herself faced with one of those moments when it would be best to run but her body instantly grew roots instead.

The sight she caught was that of Mirajane sitting on the desk. Eyes closed and flushed face leaving her mouth partially opened, she was caught in the passionate embrace of a man who Levy could not see the face of. Not that there was much room for question when Levy took in the sheer size of his naked back, rippling with muscle as his hips ground against the pool of Mirajane's skirt. The gauzy fabric hiked up about the silver-blonde beauty's waist, displaying the long expanse of her gorgeous legs wrapped about his narrow waist.

As Levy watched, unable to run away like her mind was ordering, Laxus pulled down the material of Mirajane's simple camisole. Nearly ripping off a strap in his haste. The cups of her bra following with an appreciate groan from him when he saw her breasts become obtainable. "Fuck, Mirajane."

"Laxus…we…we can't…" Mirajane's panting voice protested, but her body contradicted the statement. Fingers twining through his hair, drawing him in closer as his greedy lips found their way onto her breast. Arching her back, Mirajane granted his groping hand greater access to the one he wasn't suckling.

"You say that every time." He groaned, bending her further back onto the desk. "Yet, every time, you're begging me to make you come."

"I mean it this time." Again, body being truer that words, Mirajane started fumbling with his belt. Pants falling to his ankles and voice catching when he planted his hands firmly onto the desktop and made her cry out with a jerk of his lower torso. Only to then remained perfectly still.

That was about where all form of protest was forgotten. Finger tips clawing at his back, drawing blood, Mirajane tried to gain more of him within her. "Damn it…" There was a near sob in her voice.

"Not till you say it." There was a teasing taunt in Laxus' voice as he took one of her peeks back into his mouth. "I want to hear you," he added when all Mirajane managed was a whimper.

"Please." Mirajane nearly sobbed, lifting her hips still in attempt to gain the release she sought.

"Now, was that so hard?" Laxus, laughing at his pun, began to move in a slow rhythm.

"No…faster…it's been too long…"

Levy's mind finally regained control of her body, ordering her legs to flee.

Working at a porn shop for a month, and she had yet give into the possible curious impulse to watch one of the movies or flip through one of the magazines. And here she was, after being groped by a stranger only hours before, watching her two bosses go at it like that said creeper would have done if he came upon the sight.

She really had fallen far in such a short amount of time.

At least, the thought of being afraid on the run home was no longer and option.

* * *

**[A/N: ********As usual, please forgive any/all typos.] **

**[Alright, it was too soon for Levy and Gajeel smut—there will be in the future, don't worry, just note—but a friend of mine if a HUGE Mirajane and Laxus shipper, something we agree on…and she talked me into putting in this scene.] **


	6. Chapter 5

**[Disclaimer: I own nothing...This is just for fun!]**

* * *

**5: Secrets Revealed…**

* * *

"Not working today?" Walking about in her sleep shorts and a plain T-shirt, Lucy held a bowl of cereal in one hand. The blonde was leaning against the door of their kitchen, where Levy sat at their small table. Spending more time poking at her oatmeal than consuming it.

She should be at the shop already, being scheduled for the shift for the entire week.

Unfortunately, there was no way that Levy could consider going to work after the night she had. Calling in sick nearly took all her mental capabilities, seeing that Mirajane had been the one to answer the phone. And, Levy might have been imagining things but she was close to completely certain on there being a male voice in the background.

Laxus?

Had they been there the entire night?

That thought had brought unwanted flashbacks. Like a war victim reliving a grueling moment of battle. Causing her to hang-up before she could give a concerned Mirajane a proper farewell.

If asked, she would claim that she went to throw-up.

Something she felt like doing on giving her roommate a small smile. Foregoing the idea of eating, she scraped the bowl out into the garbage and dropped it into the sink to be washed later before returning to her chair. "Long story short, have the day off."

"Oh! Do you want to go out together? It seems like it has been weeks since we have been able to properly hang-out." Probably because it had been. Their schedules had been conflicting since Levy started working full time.

And the thought was enough to get Levy to give a true smile, placing her feet off where she had them drawn onto the chair and placed them back onto the cold tiles of the room. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Well, I have some research to do this morning. Professor Porlyusia at the university said she would give me a half an hour of her time for questions."

"Another plot change?" Lucy was an incredibly talented author, she just seemed to lack focus at times. Springing from idea to idea depending on her mood.

"Yeah, had a dream a few nights ago with elements that I would love to merge into the main characters back story. For that, need to get better insight into the medical field."

"Well, good luck. That woman terrifies me."

"She terrifies us all." Lucy said in a dramatic whisper, laughing as a knock was wrapped on the door. Cereal bowl still in hand, the blond walked towards the sound. "But she is also the best in her field."

"And yet hates people." Levy yelled after Lucy's back, spirits raising and mental torment beginning to fade from the harsh slashes crossing through her mind whenever there was a lag in conversation or mere downtime that would allow her mind to wonder.

Their joined merriment was interrupted with the door opening. "Um…" Lucy's voice was complete uncertainty, touched with a bit of fright. "May I help you?"

"We're just looking for Levy." The voice, familiar and unnerving to be present in her home, grew closer. Leaning back in her chair, Levy watched in numb shock as Natsu brushed past Lucy and moved about the apartment as if he had every right to be there.

Gray, blessedly fully-clothed, followed.

And that was about the time that Levy's chair toppled and she went sprawling onto the floor. "What are you guys doing here?" She sputtered while fighting with her limbs to regain her feet and the last bits of her dignified composure. "How do you know where I live?"

"Well, seeing that you called off today after Erza told us some creeper felt you up in the alley, we figured you were playing hooky and asked Mira for your address." Not losing his smile, Natsu entered the kitchen with a distinct bounce in his step and began to raid the fridge.

"What?" Lucy's voice squeaked, head appearing in the doorway and caught between staring at Levy in concern and confusion from the sight of Natsu devouring the remaining half-galleon of the salted-caramel ice-cream the two roommates had been working their way through.

Levy, being pulled between two forms of mortification, focused on the professional in order to buy time to think of what to tell Lucy, who she never wanted to know the truth of her job. "Mirajane thinks I'm playing hooky?"

"_Knows_ you're playing hooky." Natsu corrected, waving about his spoon.

"It's not a big deal." Gray hopped up on the counter, opening the cupboard by his head while he spoke. "She's worried about you, asked us to come in and check on you." Satisfied but not tempted with what he saw within, Gray allowed the door to shut and mussed his dark hair. "And make an offer."

"What kind of offer?"

"What's this about Levy being felt-up…and who are you guys?"

"Natsu."

"Gray."

The two introduced themselves off-handedly in time with Levy's declaration of, "It's nothing."

"Nothing?" Gray lifted a brow. "Erza said otherwise."

"So, come on." Still eating the ice-cream, intent on keeping the spoon he had commandeered, Natsu made as if to lead a grand precession from the kitchen and out the apartment. A commander guiding his troops to glorious battle. "We need to get going."

"To where?"

Natsu blinked, puzzled on why Levy wasn't up and ready to go. "Elfman's."

"Who?"

"Mirajane's younger brother, he owns the gym we work at." Gray gave a better explanation, taking a spoon from the drawer between his dangled legs and joined in partaking of the ice-cream Natsu was holding captive. "We're instructors there and he said we could use the space to give you a few pointers in self-defense. If you want," he added with as soft of a smile as she had seen him manage.

"Of course she wants." Natsu said around a mouthful of the frozen dessert. "Who wouldn't want to become stronger?"

There was merit in that.

Looking from one young man to the next, Levy sighed and left the kitchen on the way to her room. Might as well change out of her pajamas. "Sorry, Lu-chan, I'll meet up with when you're done with your interview."

"Alright." Levy could imagine the question mark floating above her friend's head, and appreciated that Lucy didn't allow that to cause her to dwell on the matter. All she did was try to smile, nearly impossible when two unknown men continued to wreak havoc onto their kitchen, and nod.

Not that Levy was fooled into thinking she could put off the conversation for long. Hopefully enough time would be allowed for her to come up with believable lies.

Hopefully Natsu and Gray didn't blow everything in the time they were alone with Lucy...

The thought was enough to get Levy to change at record speed. Exchanging her sweats and tank, far from the sexy display that some women would consider wearing to bed…not that Levy had anyone to worry about impressing in that regard, and into the equally as practical—and lacking in any form of sexual appeal—shorts and T-shirt that she wore on the rare occasion that she felt motivated enough to work-out and exercise.

Pulling up her hair, Levy jogged back into the living room. Lucy remained where she stood, eyes large at whatever it was that the boys had been doing or telling her. Levy would be concerned if she hadn't noticed that the ice-cream was gone and Natsu was no working his way through a bag of chips. A part of the girls' PMS emergency stash. And Lucy was due for needing some any day now…

So much apologizing was going to be required when this was done, along with a shopping trip to replenish junk-food supplies.

* * *

Levy squeaked and jumped to the side when Natsu went charging at her. His idea of teaching being learn through example and failure. Bruises and scrapes being a part of the lesson. The moment they arrived at the gym, he had begun to attack Levy and not understanding why she didn't seem appreciative of his efforts or unable to instantly pick-up what he was trying to convey.

"How do you expect to get anywhere if you refuse to face me head on? You'll never win a fight like that"

"I don't want to get into a fight, I just don't want to be groped by perverts. There is a distinct difference."

"No there isn't. A fight is a fight. There's always a winner, and you should always want to be that person."

"Maybe this was a bad idea."

"Alright, my turn" Gray finally growing bored of the amusing display, stepped away from the wall he had been standing against. Wearing only a pair of black-mesh shorts, he stood behind where Levy cowered and gently took her hand in his. "Lesson one: making a fist." He carefully molded her fingers and thumb. Levy's spine prickled, the sensation gained when someone unseen was glaring hatred at you…and quickly dismissed the thought on realizing that there would be no need for anyone to do such to her here. Where she was easily the weakest. "Always keep your thumb outside. If not, you are at risk of breaking it when you punch someone."

"That's boring stuff."

"Levy wasn't raised with other kids trying to beat on her like you." The patient manner Gray used on Levy snapped and shredded when addressing Natsu. "She's not some hardheaded Dragon Kid lacking in sense to do anything but be needlessly violent."

"At least I'm not a fetish stripper!"

Taking a few practice jabs at the sandbag Gray placed her in front of, Levy struggled to keep up a steady rhythm—wishing for the callouses that the boys sported—and participate in the conversation. Trying to divert it from the troubled waters. "Dragon Kid?"

"You never heard?" Correcting Levy's stance, Gray held onto the bag's chain to add further tension. "It's the nickname for Natsu and the other kids he grew-up with."

"Why?"

"The orphanage had a HUGE dragon statue in the front courtyard." Natsu had to content himself with fighting off the assaults of his reflection in the wall of mirrors taking up one side of the room. "I mean gigantic. Big enough even for magnet-ass to climb into its mouth and take a nap when some of the girl wanted him to play house."

Wait, her fist paused before another strike. _Magnet-ass. _Could that be…"Gajeel?"

"Yep."

"You and Gajeel were in the same orphanage?"

"I heard they shared a bed until Natsu learned to stop pissing his pants—Oof!" Gray doubled-over from the blow to his stomach from the pink-haired young man sweeping out a kick.

Fighting, far more intense and deadly in nature than what she was starting to see that Natsu had perceived as 'playing' before, ensured. Levy jumped out of the way, hiding behind the safety of the punching bag and watched the two roll about the floor in an exchange of punches and kicks.

"That does explain a lot." Like all the similarities in their personalities and clothing choices. "I take it that you two were close?"

"Well, I guess you could say we were." Holding onto Gray in a headlock, Natsu scratched his neck in contemplation. "Until he ran-off when he was sixteen. Then, he was kind of non-existent until he showed back up in town about three years ago."

"He ran away? Why?"

Natsu went flying when Gray got the better of him, colliding with a wall. The collision did nothing but make him laugh. "Don't know." Brushing off his clothing, he made another lunge at who Levy assumed to his best friend. "Something to do with his brother, I think."

"Gajeel has a brother?"

"Yep. Rogue." The conversation being put to an end when Gray flipped Natsu on his stomach, sat on the shorter man's back, and bent his leg beyond the usual threshold. The pink-haired one having issue twisting himself free and started to hit the floor. In frustration, not surrender.

Levy had issue understanding the presented information. Gajeel and Rogue, the very names having the feel of delinquency and violence. An image appeared in her mind of Gajeel standing beside a slightly smaller version of himself, she instantly assumed that he would be the elder of the group. The image, fabricated or not, of two Gajeel's—the younger one slightly thinner with shorter hair—was baffling to horrifying extents, enough that she shuddered.

Though now she thought she had the perfect shield to put up whenever thoughts of the day before threatened to appear. Nothing would be able to get passed the imposing force of a Gajeel duo.

* * *

Levy had forgotten it was payday, and was powerless to Natsu and Gray when they decided to herd her towards the store when they were done with her first lesson. One that she wasn't entirely sure she learned anything during rather than where to place her thumb in regards to making a fist.

"We'll walk you home afterwards." Gray promised, holding the door to wave Levy inside. "Honestly, it will do Mirajane some good to see that you're not a complete wreck and that we made good our promise of helping you out."

By 'helping' her out, he meant spending more time fighting each other than instructing her. Maybe they wanted her to watch their fights and analyze the outcomes. Levy knew that this wasn't the case even before thinking it, but it was comforting to consider the possibility that they had far deeper layers than the surface might depict.

"I thought Pip was sick today." Gajeel was the first person Levy saw, stacking fresh deliveries onto the shelves. Completely ignoring her well-constructed organizational system.

"I was. Natsu and Gray kidnapped me…and that does _not_ go there." Happy to stall the need to go into the office, a place that would be forever far too tainted for Levy to properly enter again. And, seeing that she was currently employed at a porn shop, that was saying something. She marched over to where he had the box resting on a shoulder—straining muscles against the worn fabric of his thermal, glaring down at her but yet not going through with what he intended. "The label clearly says that is a box of massage balls," along with the penis pump, these also liked to periodically haunt Levy's dreams, "and, therefore, would not go into the media entertainment section." Walking past him, she pointed towards a shelf in the back. "Self-satisfaction goes over there. Read the labels, both on the box and the shelf."

Huffing a sigh, Gajeel grudgingly obeyed Levy's orders. "Never thought that such a pip-squeak would be so depraved." With a grunt, he shoved the box at a cleared section of the appropriate line of shelves.

"I'm not depraved. I just happen to have done a lot of research after being hired."

An invisible brow, lined with metal studs, lifted. "Research?" A facial muscle began to tick before Gajeel gave in and released a chuckled laugh. A true one, making his shoulders shake and his head lower or risk her seeing how his lips peel past his fanged teeth and his eyes crinkle. It wasn't a comforting sight on a traditional manner, smiling Gajeel still seeped with lethal ability, yet Levy found herself returning the gesture.

A small chuckle and a shake of her head. "I think I can watch any horror film now without flinching. You can't imagine the things I have seen."

"I bet," he added, wiping the pad of this thumb against where his wild hair hid his eyes. Looking up only when he was in control of his expression once more. "I take it that the Tweedles are trying to teach you how to take care of yourself when the pedophiles can't resist the bait."

"I am not pedophile bait."

"Yes." Crimson eyes almost seemed to caress the sight of Levy in her short gym shorts and plain shirt. Garments that she had considered in no way appealing only hours before, suddenly made her blush at the thought of being seen in. "Yes, you are. And it's smart to learn to defend yourself, just not by the idiot twins."

"They're the only option I have."

"Really, the only?"

Levy was saved by the need to respond by the unwelcomed call from the office. "Levy, can you come back here and sign for your pay?"

Damn.

She couldn't think of a plausible reason to deny Mirajane her very reasonable request.

Deep breath in.

Deep breath out.

Levy steeled herself to step through the door, and wanted to run the next second. Especially when Mirajane waved her over to where she sat at the desk.

The desk Levy had seen Laxus and Mirajane have sex on, leaving things that could only be found with the aid of a black light. The thought was enough to make Levy want to gag. Testing her theory of the brothers Gajeel blocking such memories away instantly proved to be a failure.

"Levy-chan?" Mirajane cocked her head and motioned towards her with the pen she held. Again, there was no way of knowing what the writing utensil had been through. "Natsu and Gray said you were feeling better…" the tone said that the beauty didn't believe this, going by what she saw.

"Just…dizzy…I guess." Levy felt like a closet pervert with lesbian tendencies, unable to keep her eyes off how the swell of Mirajane's breasts almost spilled over the top of the neckline of the maxi-dress she wore. "I should probably go home now."

"Don't you want to be paid first?"

And again with the repulsion at the thought of leaving the relative safety of the doorway and approaching the desk with all the hazardous materials spewed about it. But not knowing how to avoid preventing the need to obey. "Um…" Levy's ears picked up a faint trace of music coming from the store front, where Natsu and Gray went after signing for their pay. The radio that played faint elevator music had changed a station and was cranked up. "Excuse me…I really love this song."

Thankfully, this was a truth. Or, at least, Levy knew the words. Lyrics she belted out from nervous energy on busting in through the door, hands instantly being taken by Natsu on arrival as the two of them constructed a random dance on the spot to accompany their off-key singing.

Anything to get her much needed distance between her and that desk.

And proving to be her downfall with the door chiming open and Lucy stepping in, taking in the sight of Levy dancing with Natsu in the middle of an aisle dedicated to sensual toys for couple enjoyment.

"Lu-chan…what are you doing here?"

"Oh." Natsu dropped Levy's hands when he noticed that the dancing had ceased. "I told her to meet us here."

* * *

**[A/N: As usual, please forgive any/all typos.] **

**[Honestly, I am in complete favor of the Twin Dragon paradox theory, just not sure how I would incorporate that into this story…and wanted to do a nod towards Rogue, just not sue if he or Sting will actually appear, but wanted to have some ties to him in this.] **


	7. Chapter 6

**[Disclaimer: I own nothing...This is just for fun!]**

* * *

**6: Bookworm Gone Wild…**

* * *

Levy reacted as would be expected…of a cowardly, scared little girl. After the initial shock of her situation, she bolted for the backroom. Racing down the hallway, Levy ignored Mirajane's inquiring call that chased her and sprinted out into the alley for dear life—and dignity. From there, it seemed only logical to scurry up the rickety ladder of the fire-escape that climbed up the building towards the apartments above.

Huddled in the corner of one of the landings, arms covered her head and eyes burned from the humiliating desire to cry. How was she going to be able to return to the apartment when Lucy knew the truth of how Levy spent her days?

"Fuck, Pip, you sell porn. Not star in it. Though, you probably could make a killing in the pedophile department. All the appeal of a little girl without worrying about the legal charges. We could actually sell it at the shop."

"Why are you here?" Looking up, Levy rested her quivering chin on her knees and tried to muster the fire to glare at where Gajeel stood on the ladder going up to the landing she was sitting on, too large to comfortably stand on the postage stamp of an area. All she could muster through her damp emotions was an eye-twitch that had more to do with the desire to cry than anything else.

"I had the misfortune of being the closest one to the door when you fled like a twelve-year-old from a spider-snake-hybrid."

Well, that was a frightening thought.

Resting his arms on the landing level with his broad shoulders, Gajeel continued, "While I was ordered to hunt you down, Mirajane was talking to blondie, who is equal parts confused and worried. Kind of reminds me of a bunny when I caught a glimpse of her hopping about the shop before receiving my instructions to bring you back."

Levy shook her head before burying it into her arms once more, not ready to face Lucy.

After a lengthy silence, pregnant with heavy emotions, Gajeel sighed, "Fuck it. Come on."

"I'm not going back."

"Who said anything about going back?"

That was enough for her to lift her head to look at him once more. "What?"

"I can't leave you up here crying—"

"I'm not crying."

"—without getting bitch-slapped by Mirajane for being 'insensitive' or something along that bullshit. Seeing that you refuse to have a spine, I'll have to babysit."

"Gee, thanks. But I don't want to put yourself out or anything." Heat was finally found, rising in Levy's voice. All her dissatisfaction, disappointment, self-contempt, and a myriad of other negative emotions that had been building over the past month erupted at his comment. "So how about you take your obligations and fear of Mirajane and go fuck yourself." The moment the words left her mouth, Levy clapped a hand over her mouth, feeling her eyes grow wide. She never used such language, considering such crass expressions were for people with limited vocabularies.

Gajeel gave her a shark grin. "That's more like it. Getting angry is always better than dwelling on whatever the problem is and getting all pissy and mopey."

Stretching out her legs, Levy's fingers tugged at the corners of her eyes. "I'm not pissy and mopey."

"No, at the moment, you're pouting and annoyed. And, I take, still reluctant to face reality."

"Yeah, well, you don't have to stay here. It might take a while."

"I had no intention of waiting you out. This isn't a fucking snipe hunt and I have another job to get to." Leaning forward, his hands almost seemed to want to reach out and grab her ankles. "You'll just have to come with me."

* * *

Levy wasn't sure how it happened.

One moment, she was sitting on the fire-escape landing, and the next she was sitting at a stool—still wearing her gym clothing—in front of a counter in a bar far from the one she frequented. The woman standing across from her was far from Loke's standards, wearing a bikini top and capris rather than the suit that Levy assumed all barkeeps were required to dorn for working hours.

Gajeel had deposited her there before going to his station at the door. Not even pausing long enough for explanations.

"Who's the toddler?" A woman, busty like all those employed and wearing a dress that was more string than anything, walked past where Levy had been placed with a snide expression of superiority Levy was accustomed to gaining. Before meeting Lucy in college, Levy had been the 'accessory friend' in high school. The girl that others wanted to hang out with to look better in comparison.

"She's a friend of Gajeel's, and none of your concern, Sasha." The bartender gave the woman a pointed look while continuing her task of wiping down the counter, Levy's arrival having been before the doors opened for the night's business and they still doing their prep work.

Full lips pulled into a snarl, something even the prettiest of woman couldn't wear without becoming ugly, as her analytical expression took on a wicked light. "What? Is she his daughter?"

"Yes." Hand holding rag rested on her hip, the bartender's violet-blue eyes narrowed with confident authority. "Which is why he didn't want to risk getting an STD by getting inside your cesspool."

Mouth dropping open, Sasha walked off with a wave of the bartender's hand. It being clear who the true alpha female was.

Shaking her head, making thick locks of glossy dark hair shift about her face, the bartender gave Levy a reassuring smile. "Don't let anything any of these bitches effect you. Most are jealous that Gajeel brought you in, something he has never done, when he has shown zero interest in any of their advances." Dropping the rag, she offered a hand. "Cana."

"Levy," she took the offered hand with slight hesitance before returning the friendly gesture of a smile. "And…you know…it's not like that between Gajeel and me. He just didn't know what else to do with me."

"Ah-ha." Cana gave a condescending nod, reaching for a bottle from the shelf behind her. "Well, whatever is 'between' the two of you, he brought you here. And I have a strict no sober rule while sitting at the bar."

A shot glass was placed before Levy, filled with rich amber liquid. Far from the fruity, light-weight drinks that Levy partook in on the rare occasion that she did drink.

Another joined it before Cana put the bottle away. "I hate drinking alone and I don't allow my girls to drink while on shift. So, this is how the night is going to go, seeing that Black Steel brought me a playmate, every time I do a shot, you do one." Saying such, Cana downed one of the shots. Eyes flicking down towards the full one waiting for Levy to drink.

"Um…I'm not much of a drinker."

"Like with all things, the only way to get better is to practice." Cana wrapped her knuckles to the counter's top, not moving until Levy—eyes squeezed closed and body tense in preparation—downed the fiery liquor. Coughing, she laced her fingers through her hair and bowed her head until breathing became an ability once more.

"Obviously, not much of a dresser either." A woman, who somehow made glasses look far sexier than Levy could ever manage, stood behind her stool. Where Levy was still in her short and plain T-shirt, this woman wore a black micro-mini-pleated-skirt with a green corseted top that she was nearly falling out of. Yet, somehow, she managed to look classier than the young woman from before.

"Lay off Ever, Gajeel basically kidnapped and dragged her here like some kind of caveman."

"I should be surprised by this." The woman, Ever—though Levy doubted that was her real name, combed her fingers through the tip of Levy's ponytail. "It only makes sense that he suffers from a closeted Lolita fetish. Only way to explain how he could pass-up my perfection."

"Always with the humility."

"It's not like that. I was having a bad day and he didn't want to leave me alone to wallow in self-pity." Or, at least, that was what Levy thought had happened. She still was uncertain about most of the details of why she was there.

"Friendly acts of kindness is not Gajeel's MO." Ever looked Levy over, eyes stopping at precise areas before the blunt delivery of what she perceived as a logical explanation, "He wants to fuck her." The comment was directed towards Cana, a sputtering Levy not even a part of the conversation.

"Oh, without a doubt. Doesn't change the fact that the poor girl had no say what she was wearing when he thought to haul her off in an act of ownership."

"Well, I refuse to allow her to sit around here look like that. It will put off clients and, frankly, I find it insulting to have _this_ in our presence." She motioned to all of Levy on conveying the word 'this.'

The comment seemed to make complete sense to Cana, who just sighed her acceptance. "Fine. Do what you want. But, remember Evergreen, doors open in five."

"Plenty of time." Evergreen, Levy still couldn't believe that was the woman's real name, took hold of Levy's elbow and hauled her to room located somewhere in the space above the bar. An apartment area that no one obviously lived in, seen more like a giant closest space than anything.

A pile of clothing was thrown at Levy's feet on arrival, Evergreen diving in to the task. Explaining as she went. "The girls don't like risking our clothes, so Cana compiled this collection for us to borrow from and replace anything that gets covered in liquid while on clock. This used to be her father's office when the bar was the store front for his handyman company."

"Why isn't it anymore?"

Evergreen laughed, a near patronizing sound. "If you knew Gildarts; you would understand. The man's talent resides on destroying things more than fixing." After forming a sizable pile, she started pulling out garments for Levy to try on, mostly consisting of things that would be shirts on the women downstairs.

Shooting down some before Levy could even get them on while seriously contemplating others.

"Alright, we're running out of time. Put on the white razor-back dress," by that, she meant the shirt that looked to be a mid-thigh dress on Levy, "with the backless vest and the black ankle-boots," which had to have three-inched spiked heels. "And put on these," Evergreen passed Levy some gold chains of varying lengths.

"This really wasn't necessary."

Snorting, Evergreen opened the door leading down to the din that was now ranging up from the bar beneath. "Believe me, it definitely was. Though, realize this, even though Gajeel's personal tastes led him to lust for you rather than me—I am still the queen."

"Isn't it Cana's bar?"

"Semantics. She is the financial backer. I am the reason people keep returning."

* * *

On trend of the night, Levy had no coherent remembrance of how she landed in her current predicament. Though, she did know where the blame resided.

Levy and alcohol did not mix well.

Holding true to her earlier edict, Cana had Levy do a shot each time she indulged during the hours that followed. And the bar's owner indulged…a lot. By the third shot, Levy's body began to feel warm and her brain started to almost hum with relaxed contentment.

After the fifth, she found herself forgetting why she had been afraid of the setting before or why she was keeping her herself on the stool that Gajeel had assigned her. Starting to talk to more of those around her as she began to move around the crowd. And Cana had to follow Levy about to return the blue-haired girl to the counter for the next dose of whiskey, which were starting to be paired with drinks others were buying her.

Up until that moment, Levy could follow the trek the evening's events. She understood how matters were unfolding and why. That it was a chemical reaction to how her body was reacting to the presence of a foreign substance it hadn't developed a needed tolerance for…

After about her tenths shot, she began to wonder if she had long passed out and was dreaming about her current situation: standing on the counter with some of Cana's employees and laughing through dance steps she was making-up on the spot. Everything about the world around her had become too bright, too intense, too surreal.

Mind felt completely detached the actions of her body.

"I might have to hire you." Cana called up to Levy, fighting back a laugh while clapping along with the music pulsing out of the speakers. "Clearly cute sells," she added on noting the guys cheering for Levy.

Not that Levy was listening, not completely. Two guys, who had been buying her drinks for the better part of two hours, had taken her hands to help her down from the counter. Neatly caging her away from the safety of the counter and further back into the now packed floor-space.

"When do you get off?" One called down to her from his advantage in height.

Levy was having difficulty getting her mouth to form words, to tell them that she wasn't one of the workers—more amused at the idea of being mistaken for one of the gorgeous women moving about her, just shaking her head and continued to bob her head around in time with the fast tempo. Bumping her into another man standing behind them.

"Angel, you're bouncing off the walls." One of the men laughed, steadying her when her ankle wanted to roll from balancing on the precarious heel. "How about we find somewhere for you to sit and get some water?"

"No. How about you leave?" A voice growled through the music, causing the men to look up…way up…into red eyes that glowed in the bar's dim lighting. Gajeel didn't seemed pleased to find Levy off her stool and dressed in her borrowed outfit.

The three tensed at his sight, manner speaking of knowing who he was. "We're just trying to be helpful."

"Oh, I know the game. See it all the time in a place like this. Horny bastards trying to set themselves apart from the rest by playing the 'helpful' and 'sensitive' card when faced with a pretty girl in a tight dress." Calloused hands cupping her jaw, Levy giggled at the touch and the way that Gajeel's face seemed to tick and twitch and change color. "Deciding to completely overlook the fact that the girl they are being ever so kind to is drunk off her ass and had probably been slipped something to boot."

"We didn't slip her anything, I swear."

"Yeah, I believe that. Even if it was the truth, you wouldn't be so morally high to pass up the offer." Done with the conversation, Gajeel boldly picked Levy up by the collar, momentarily choking her until he managed to swing her into his arms so she rolled against his chest.

His powerful chest.

Damn, the man smelled fantastic: like metal after a rain storm.

And was deliciously warm. Levy hadn't realized how thin her dress was until she felt how the heat radiated off Gajeel's body, through the worn material of his tight shirt. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she snuggled closer to his living furnace. Burying her nose in the crock of his neck.

"Get going."Gajeel jerked his head for the men to leave on his way to the counter. "Cana, you stupid fucking drunk, what in Hell have you done?"

"What?" Pushing her rich hair from her face, Cana shrugged before doing another shot. Levy instinctively reached out for hers. "She's in a bar. What did you expect?"

Gajeel swatted away the glass Cana offered for Levy. "She's been drugged."

"No, she's drunk. Don't be getting your panties in a bunch about a few shots of whiskey. I've been keeping an eye out on her, making sure no one took advantage of her condition. The three you kicked out were innocent, harmless even. They were probably just trying to sober her up a bit. All this you would have known if you had been spending more time doing your job and less thinking about how the woman in your arms looks in that shirt-dress and how well she can move when she allows herself to."

"Well, seeing that my presence is useless—you having everything under control, I'm taking off for the rest of the night."

"Thought as much, already called in Elfman. He owes me a favor." Cana waved Gajeel to depart. Adding after a pause, violet eyes noting Levy's content position as Gajeel's captive. "She's a sweet girl, can see why you like her. Just be careful, not sure you're prepared to handle an innocent."

Levy could feel Gajeel's growl through her body. The idea of him being so grumpy on such a night was perplexing and troubling for Levy's racing heart. Her fingers traveled along the slight scruff that covered his strong jaw, trying to ease away his discontent. Humming snippets of a song she remembered being part of a lullaby.

"Yeah. Yeah. I haven't forgotten about you, Pip. Let's get you home."

"No, I don't want to go home."

"You really should be more careful with your words, a man could take that meaning in a very different light." Kicking the door open, Levy felt Gajeel carry her into the cool night. "Now, where do you live?"

Giggling, Levy shook her head. "Not telling." The air whooshed from her lungs on being settled on the hood of one of the cars filling the parking lot.

Gajeel lowered his head to meet her eyes. "I'm in no mood for games."

"Then stop playing them." Levy fingers gave into the impulse of trying to tame his wild mane by finger-combing it into submission. For some odd reason, the act made Gajeel close his eyes and make a primal sound nearing a groan. The sight made her face heat, as if she had done another shot of whiskey, and her mind to cloud over.

There being a thick swirl that further muddied the line between reality and dream…

* * *

Levy woke to bright sun streaming in through a dusty pane of glass, head splitting from agonizing torment on her suddenly sensitive eyes and pulsing brain that made each beat of her heart too loud for her senses to take.

She was going to be sick.

Rolling onto her side, she was going to do as much. The impulse disappearing with the realization that she wasn't wearing her clothing from the night before, neither the gym clothing nor the borrowed ones, Instead, she swam in a T-shirt far too big for her body with the V-neckline lunging low enough for her to know that she wasn't wearing a bra.

Laying on a mattress on the floor of a room that made the idea of 'Spartan' seem decadent.

Huddled on the threadbare quilt she woke under, Levy flinched when her headache spiked from the door squeaking open. Admitting the sight of a bathroom dwelling beyond. That not being what took Levy's attention, not when Gajeel was the man who stepped inside.

A towel riding low on his narrow hips with streams of water tickling from the tips of his hair and down the rivets of his torso.

Levy instinctively licked her lips at the sight…telling herself that it was to try to clear the cotton film coating her mouth.

What had happened last night?

* * *

**[A/N: As usual, please forgive any/all typos.] **

**[A/N: I REALLY wanted to write some Levy/Gajeel—felt that for a story about them, I didn't have enough of them interacting. Hopefully, this didn't feel like it came out of nowhere (something I hate about some stories is how rushed the characters are to get together) because I had a lot of fun writing it. Please tell me your thoughts. **

**Also, have been considering of possibly starting a companion piece about Laxus and Mirajane. I wouldn't start it until I had more done with Gajeel and Levy…but found myself thinking of their backstory in this and what is going on behind the scenes with them. Again, please let me know your thoughts on the matter.]**


	8. Chapter 7

**[Disclaimer: I own nothing…This is just for fun!]**

* * *

**7: More Questions Than Answers…**

* * *

"Calm down, Pip. It's not like anything had happened." Thumb casually hooked at the edge of his hip, offhandedly displaying a defined hipbone, Gajeel looked her over. Eyes lingered on how far the shirt dipped in the front, rolling them when she pointedly pulled at the shirt's back to bring the neckline against her throat. "Yeah. It's not that there's much to cover."

Levy was having issue looking away from how the water played against the chiseled muscles of his torso. Heat flaming her face the longer she stared. Both from the sight of his current state of dress—or, more importantly, undress—and the mortifying thought of what he had to be thinking of her inability to handle the sight of half-naked male body when she worked at a porn store.

Blushing like the virgin she was.

That she apparently still was.

"Nothing happened?"

"Well, a lot of things happened. Just none of those that your mind instantly jumped to." Without pause, he turned his back to her—facing the stacked crates he obviously used as a dresser—and dropped the towel. Not caring that she was present before starting to dress.

Levy instantly buried her burning face into her hands trying to force her tone into being conversational. "Really? You couldn't have waited?" And failing miserably. It had only been a split second, but she had seen a lot more of Gajeel than she ever considered, Worse was that the sight seemed to be scorched into her mind and that, though it would never be anything to admitted out load when she barely could to herself, she finally understood how some women could be completely fixated on a man's ass. It seemed like everything about the man was toned.

"Thought it was only fair, seeing that I got a good eye-full last night." There was a dark chuckle to his voice.

Her head almost jerked up in panic. "I-I thought you said nothing happened."

"No, I said that we didn't have sex. Not that you didn't hurl all over yourself, soaking and ruining the shirt you were calling a dress last night, then—after your bout of illness was spent—stripping down to your skivvies until I managed to find something that managed to somewhat fit you." Oh…God…She couldn't have done that. Could she? Levy had never been drunk enough to black-out before. Who knew what she would or wouldn't have done while under the influence. "And you can uncover your eyes, I'm decent."

By decent, he meant he pulled on a pair of jeans. "Why didn't you take me home?" Levy tried to make her voice strong, not letting on that she was fighting off the desire to burst into humiliated sobs.

Crossing his arms, Gajeel leaned against the wall and pretended not to notice. "You reused to tell me your address and I wasn't go to argue with you in the bar's parking lot until you sobered up enough to reason with. Look," finger-combing his hair, he broke eye contact with her to examine his bare feet, "like I said, nothing happened beyond you getting sick and getting rid of your clothes. Far from memorable and nothing worth getting worked up about."

He was lying.

Levy wasn't sure how she knew, but something told her that Gajeel was lying.

Not about the lack of sex, but something about the rest of the words strummed untruths. She might not has lost her virginity, a topic matter she was too embarrassed to talk about with anyone other than Lucy…and hesitantly at that, but something had happened.

Her lips felt bruised.

That couldn't be a sign of an innocent night of throwing-up, which would include more of a burning sensation in her throat.

The question was: did she want to know?

"I'll get some of my roommate's clothes for you, there should be something of hers that can fit you in some way." His words broke Levy from her thoughts and the possibility of diving deeper into that conversation. "They will have to do until you get back to your place, change, and appease Bunny girl with answers before your shift at the store. Don't even think about calling off again." He added with a pointed finger on unhitching himself from his post. "Embarrassment is not a legit reason for missing work. Neither is suffering from a hang-over."

And that made Levy forget all the other pressing matters, focusing on the looming dread of having to face the real world once more. Most importantly, how Lucy was going to look at her now that she knew. "I don't want to go back."

"Well, you can't hide here forever." Forgetting his intent of scrounging up clothing, Gajeel came closer to the bed. Looking down at Levy from his advantage, strained further than usual by her position on the floor. "What are you going to do? Move?"

"That does sound appealing."

The mattress sank under added weight, Gajeel sitting on the edge but seeming to take up far more space. The smell of him, even under the soap and water from the shower—there was still his core scent that had become somehow familiar to her, triggered something in Levy's mind.

The bed smelled like him.

The sheets and blanket were still fresh with his scent.

They both had been in the bed that night.

Yet, nothing had happened?

How was that possible?

Gajeel didn't strike her the type to merely _sleep_ beside a woman all night…that is unless he thought he was sleeping beside nothing more than a little girl.

Why did that thought both manage to depress Levy and also piss her off?

A warm hand cupped her chin when her eyes found where her hands were resting in her lap, trying to unravel the chaotic distress that her mind was becoming in just a few short minutes. Maybe this all would be so much easier if her head wasn't pounding as it trapped in the middle of a monkey's cymbal solo. "Why are you trying to prove how weak you are when we both know that to be a lie?"

"You're the one who likes to treat me like a kid."

Gajeel huffed a laugh, as if she had said something along the lines of a private joke between the two of them. One that she had no idea where it began or ended or what the hidden meaning might reside in. A chuckle that was short-lived, brought to an end with a shake of his head and him standing once more. "I'm going to get you those clothes."

This, all of this, would make so much more sense if she had an inkling of what had happened last night. Not that Gajeel seemed to be forthcoming with details.

Something Levy couldn't help but wonder why that was the case.

"Oh, by the way. Natsu and Gray have been fired as your instructors."

"What? How can they be fired? No one ever hired them." Fingers twining into her hair, she tried to keep herself from becoming sick. Stomach deciding at that moment to want to heave. "They're just helping me out."

"And suck at it."

"I need to learn these things, you said so yourself."

"I also said not from the idiot twins."

"There is no one else." Why was she even having this conversation? Why did he think he had any say in this matter?

"Really? I think that you can come up with one other option."

* * *

"Why didn't you just tell me?" Lucy, after the initial hour of panicked inquiries about where Levy had been all night and receiving nothing beyond evasive answers that were vague at best, finally got down to the point of the matter.

"I…I didn't want you to look at me differently."

Allowing her body to give into weariness, Lucy sank onto the couch beside where Levy was huddled at the far cushion of. "Why would I look at you differently?"

"Lu-chan, I work at a _porn shop_."

"So? The stuff there can't be much worse than some of the books I've seen you read."

Levy's face found the ability to find another shade of red to change into, making Lucy laugh and throw her arms about the small blue-haired girl in friendly delight. The blonde thinking that the reaction was from remembering something read while Levy was doing so from remembering the sight from that morning.

Of the moment Gajeel dropped the towel.

And they had slept together.

But, nothing else happened.

Yeah, that was going to bother her for days to come.

"Alight, now dish." Springing back onto her knees, Lucy waved for Levy to speak. "Tell me everything."

"Why? Why does this interest you? And," she added before Lucy could answer, "don't say that it's because it's a part of my life now and you want to be a part of that. There is something going on behind those too innocent eyes of yours."

"Well, I was thinking that it would be an interesting twist to the story—"

"I knew it. Really? You want to put porn into your fantasy-adventure-action-romance?"

Lucy looked down, obviously fighting the desire to pout at Levy's disapproval. "It hasn't been done before."

"Or, one could say, too often. Seeing that sex seems to be at the core of everything. Believe me, I think I can now painfully-boast of being a near expert on that matter."

"Come on, just tell me about working there, what are the people like?"

Resting her head on the couch back, Levy closed her eyes. This was doing nothing to aid in relieving the pain cracking her skull in two. One that had spiked the moment Gajeel had the great idea of putting Levy, dressed in a pair of jeans and tank-top too big for her shortly petite frame that belonged to Gajeel's taller and more curvaceous roommate. That had been…Well, she wanted to say it was a horrible experience, and the whole part of the engine enflaming her hang-over-sensitive-mind had been.

She had found the second part, the need to cling to his waist, cheek pressed to his back, far more pleasing. Her excuse being that there had been a reprieve to having to sit-up on her own. And not about…other things.

Working at a porn shop had really made her mind filthy place.

"Co-workers or customers?" She asked after realizing that she had yet to answer and Lucy was going to pounce into further action.

"Both."

Levy gently rubbed her eyes before opening them. "That is a long list."

"Well, start at the top. Who was the guy who dropped you off?" Lucy had been staring out the window when Gajeel's motorcycle had come roaring up the curb in front of the building.

"Gajeel." The moment she said his name, Levy knew she wouldn't be able to tell Lucy anything without giving more away than she would want. Not even to her best friend. Not when Levy was so confused about the matter herself. Like why she kept thinking about him in a near endless circle. "He's just one of the guys I work with. Nothing much to say on that. Natsu and Gray would be better character studies."

* * *

**[A/N: As usual, please forgive any/all typos.] **

**[A/N: Alright, not my best chapter, I know. I have been sick for the last few days and wanted to post something, anything for you guys. Next update will probably be one from Gajeel's POV. Also, as always, please tell me what you think.] **


	9. Intermission 2

**[Disclaimer: I own nothing…This is just for fun!]**

**[A/N: Again, sorry about last chapter. Yes, it ended far too abruptly. I had so much more planned for last chapter, but just couldn't get myself to focus long enough to write it out.]**

* * *

**Intermission 2: About Last Night…**

* * *

Gajeel placed Levy's slight weight down onto the top of the nearest car, not caring who the owner was. "I'm in no mood for games."

"Then stop playing them." Slim fingers laced through his hair, snagging on knots but also causing nails to scrape against his scalp in a delicious way while perfectly white teeth sank into a full bottom lip.

Gajeel had to close his eyes to the sight. Not understanding how the woman before him could be so oblivious to the effect she could have on the wrong person. Just because she was wasted didn't mean that she had a free pass of being reckless.

If she was with the wrong person…

He felt her move closer to him, the inside of her thighs brushing against the outside of his. Did getting assaulted by that guy in the alley teach her nothing along the lines of caution? Why had Levy allowed Cana to bully her into drinking when she tended to glare Gajeel down whenever he tried to bully her about?

Yeah, that's right, he knew that he tried to bully her. It was fun watching her expression change with the thoughts everyone was able to read as they crossed her face.

Like, at the moment, it was easy to tell what she was thinking. What the alcohol was convincing her she wanted as her hand traveled away from his neck and down the front of his shirt. "You're handsome like this, you know…when you're not all glaring and scowling so much. You're really handsome, that is if you brush your hair more." Again with the teeth sinking into that full lower lip. Why was he having issue looking away from that?

…Fuck it, he was the wrong person. She should know to be afraid of him.

Capturing her neck, so fragile in his hand, Gajeel lowered his head to pry Levy's teeth open with his tongue. Expecting her to freeze-up and flinch away. Not lean into him, fisting the material of his shirt into her small fingers. Not kiss him back with something far beyond what he thought the sociably awkward introvert was able.

Cana had called Levy an innocent.

Well, if this was how innocents kiss, Gajeel was going to have to find more of them and bring a fifth of Jack.

Hands moving from her neck to her back. Palms slowly sliding down the curve of her spine to rest on the slight swell of her ass. Pulling her even closer. Not caring how this was going to end. If his threat of a bluff hadn't worked, and this led to them gaining carnal knowledge of one another. So be it. Whoever this car belonged to parked here knowing what might become of it.

Cana even had a warning sign hanging from the parking-lot facing wall. True, it was made more for an understood joke than anything, but Gajeel still considered it substantial warning. Especially when Levy made a small sound of delight from the action, pressing against Gajeel for a few heavy seconds before she started pushing him away.

"What—?" Gajeel got his answer while asking, stepping back while Levy began to purge the ethanol-centric toxins that had been dictating her actions for the better part of the night. Well, whoever this car belonged to, a new paint job was going to be in order. And that particular sign wasn't meant to be taken as a joke. "Ok," smoothing a hand over her hunched shoulders as she continued to vomit, he looked away from the sight and tried to ignore the bile smell burning his nostrils, "time to take you home."

"No…not…going…" she managed to get out between heaves.

"A man doesn't take advantage of woman in such a state." Elfman, ever the timer, stepped into sight. Snowy head of hair towering above Gajeel in height, but not in manner. The man, while an accomplished fighter, was more talk than action. Having nothing on the underlining badassery of his elder sister.

"Do I look like I'm taking advantage of her?"

"You would be if she didn't get ill when she did."

"Well, she did. And, seeing that she refuses to tell me where she lives, I'm going to have to take her with me. Keep your lectures about manly honor and just do me a favor."

"After that, you're asking me a favor?"

"Yeah." Digging into his back pocket, Gajeel pulled out his keys. Knowing there was no way he could transport Levy in her current condition in any manner than by foot. "After Ever is done blowing you—cause I know what 'call in a favor' means when the drunk talks about you, exploiting the fact that you two think you're sneakier than you really are—drop my bike off at my building before you hike back to your place."

Elfman's mouth moved soundlessly for a few long seconds, trying to figure out what to say about his relationship with Evergreen…and their complete lack of subtly. "It's over twelve blocks in the opposite direction." He finally settled on, averting his eyes beack towards the bar and the door he should be watching.

"A _manly_ task, don't you think?"

Levy broke the tension with a sickly giggle. "Sorry, just had an Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki moment." He only knew what her slurred and weak voice was saying because he knew the man who the insanely bizarre named belonged to. "Man!" She imitated the shop patron's distinct voice before groaning and falling into another bout of illness.

* * *

"I'm so sorry." It was the dozenth time she had said such in less than a half an hour. Sitting on the floor of his bathroom, she combed pale-blue hair away from the line of danger. Her dress hadn't been as fortunate. It was near transparent from the amount of bodily bile that had been purged down its front.

Nor had Gajeel fared well during their walk to his apartment. By 'walk' meaning him carrying her when it was apparent that her knees were no longer willing to lock straight. He wasn't one to priss about clothing, not caring about stains and tears, but he tossed it out the moment he had Levy settled in front of the porcelain throne.

"It's alright," Gajeel repeated for as many times as her apologizing. Crouching down, he gave her back an awkward pat. "Just, if you remember this, remind me never to allow you anywhere near a bar ever again."

Head resting against a wall, Levy took a few calming breaths before a rasped voice found its way to her trembling lips. "Why won't I remember?"

"The better question is why you would. You drank a lot…and your body is small. Really, think Cana would have had better success giving straight liquor to a twelve-year-old."

Levy snorted, the state of her clothing taking up the primary space of her currently limited attention. "This is…like…so gross."

"So, you get drunk and you become a party girl with a limited vocabulary. Good to know…What the fuck are you doing?!" Levy, growing tired of contemplating her ruined dress, had decided to discard the offending item. Pulling it over her head, along with the nest she wore layered above it, she proved Gajeel's suspicions that she was currently going sans a bra.

Tossing the filth-covered garments away, she sat on the tiles in nothing more than her underwear, the kind designed to look like shorts that had been shrunk in the laundry and allowed the wearer's butt to peek out the bottom.

And this was not the time for him to contemplate that particular idea…or how her breasts, though smaller than some of the women Gajeel had slept with, were perky and a sufficient handful. Parts of her anatomy he could be enjoying if she hadn't given into illness.

Why wasn't he fucking her now?

It wasn't like he was some kind of honor-bound boy scout.

He had slept with intoxicated girls before.

Some of his fondest memories involved such.

So why wasn't he reaping the benefits of taking a wasted girl home?

Rather than taking her into his arms and making advantage of her lithe curves, he lost another shirt to Levy's cause. Passing the one he had changed into for her to slip on. "My bed is in the next room, go sleep this off."

Standing, he walked out the bathroom door that led to the kitchen. Him and Juvia shared a common space but had private washes. It was the only way that he managed to live with her for so long. Juvia was a notorious counter-space hog and would live in the bath tub if she was able.

While he had been tending to Levy, his roommate had returned home and was now glaring at him from where she sat at the kitchen's island. "First: why did you bring my love rival here?"

"Love rival?"

Jerking her chin towards the door that led straight into Gajeel's bedroom, located directly beside here, Juvia's pale lips pulled into a sulking pout worn only for one topic matter. "I saw her hanging all over Gray-sama at the gym today." Juvia, true to her stalker nature, had gained a job as a life guard at the pool addition of Elfman's gym.

"Doubt she was 'hanging all over' him." Opening the fridge, Gajeel took out the plastic jug of milk, sniffed the contents, and drank straight from the neck. "Stripper-man and Salamander agreed to teach her from defensive strategies after some serial molester, now locked away awaiting his numerous charges to settle, assaulted her in an alley."

Juvia snorted, clearly not preferring that theory to her self-fabricated love-triangle."A likely story."

Knowing when to give up on a fight, Gajeel leaned against the fridge and took another swig of milk before breeching a new topic. "You said 'first,' I assume that there is at least a 'second.'"

Juvia's face went blank, mirroring the expression she once wore back when the first met when Gajeel was barely sixteen and…that was something best left uncontemplated. Especially after the day he just had.

"What happened?" And if she started muttering her self-soothing mantra of 'drip, drip, drip'—how she dealt with what she had seen and done back in far darker days—a call to Makarov. Something he really didn't want to do unless necessary. There being an understood limit to how often you can call upon a near-stranger for.

"Aria came in to see me today."

Milk jug rested on the counter, freeing Gajeel's hands to scrub his iron-studded face. "And?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"There was a lot of crying, from him…and I think he might have cracked a few of my ribs." She held up a hand before Gajeel could go to her side and examine. "Not intentionally. You know that he isn't aware of his strength of times. When he hugged me…he was too busy crying and saying how pathetic my plight was to notice that strain he was putting on my bones. I'm fine," she stressed at whatever expression crossed his face. Eyes growing colder during her analyzing. "Though, it would have been helpful to know that you ran into Sol nearly a month ago. When were you planning on telling me that?"

"I'm handling the situation."

"What is the situation, exactly?"

"I don't know, but I'm handling it." Looking at her through his fingers, he released a frustrated sigh. For the last few hours, in light of recent events, he had forgotten about this particular issue to be plaguing his existence. "Just…just lay low for a bit until I do so."

"Lay low? Really?"

"I'll have Gray take you out…or something. Okay? Just, stay out of their way." The last part wasn't needed. The moment he mentioned the idea of her going out with the object of her desire, he had her.

Squealing in glee, all dark emotions and memories forgotten, she went running off into her room. Words babbling out of her mouth about finding the perfect outfit for this impending date.

One that Gajeel had to figure out how to manage.

Milk put away, Gajeel followed Juvia's example and returned to his room…and found Levy sitting in the middle of his mattress. Knees drawn to her chest and eyes staring at where he stepped in.

"I thought I told you to sleep."

"Can't."

Why?"

Looking about her, Levy shrugged. "There's too much room."

"Too much room?"

Tugging at his blanket, Levy made a show of the tangled mess Gajeel's mattress always was. "I can't sleep on such a vast space. I always sleep on a single…with a lot of pillows and stuff to make as little space as possible. I know," she added, glazed, strained eyes lifting to his, "you think I'm a useless child. Good for nothing beyond problems."

"No, I'm thinking that I'm tired and done worrying." Undoing his jeans, Gajeel crawled onto the mattress in nothing but his boxer-briefs. Stretching out beside where Levy sat to grab her waist and force her to lay down as well. The act placing her at the edge of the mattress, back to his chest. "Better?"

"Actually, yes." She snuggled closer to him, causing his body have an instant reaction.

"Good. Now, close your eyes and go to sleep." Following his own advice, he tried to ignore how surprisingly lush her body was…fully aware that it was going to be a long, painful night that was going to require a cold shower first thing come morning.

* * *

**[A/N: As usual, please forgive any/all typos.]**


	10. Important Author's Note

**Important Author's Note:**

Hello,

I just wanted to:

1. Thank you all for all the reviews and support in my writing so far and, unfortunately, to add that...

2. A friend of mine (a woman like a second mother to me) has experienced a loss. Her daughter died earlier today and, while I personally didn't know her daughter that well. I find myself merely staring at a blank Word document, unable to get myself to write.

This doesn't mean I am ceasing with updates or putting aside the story. All this means is that I might not be updating this week. Once I get my head screwed back on, I will update. I just wanted you guys to know that there is no abandonment here, I did not forget about you, but I am not going to post half-hearted chapters that I will probably hate merely to post something.

Thanks for your (hopeful) understanding,

-DWL


	11. Chapter 8

**[Disclaimer: I own nothing…This is just for fun!]**

**[A/N: Thank-you for all the kind words and understanding. This is what I intended to be the second half of chapter seven with an added bonus. For the long delay, going to put some things in I was planning for later. Hopefully, you all enjoy it!]**

* * *

**8: Confusing Relationships…**

* * *

Lucy had wanted to come along for Levy's shift.

That plan had disaster written all over it. Not that Levy thought her friend would feel uncomfortable in the setting. In fact, Levy was starting to believe in the opposite. Lucy might be more comfortable in the seedy place of employment than the petite blue-haired young woman could ever hope to be.

Instead of bringing her best friend to work for means of information gathering, Levy thought it best to bring the information to Lucy. After all, Natsu and Gray had given her their number after their session at the camp, in case she found herself in need of a ride or further aid from creepers. It was quick work to call them up to ask if they would mind answering a few questions.

Apparently, no.

The two showed up at her door fifteen minutes later and, when Levy left for work, the three were ordering take-out and getting along surprisingly well. Lucy took the two's quirks in considerable stride, though she did have a faltering moment when Gray began to unconsciously strip down to his jeans. And there only being one significant outburst when the boys tried to wonder into the blonde's bedroom.

Levy wasn't sure where the weirdness of this entire situation began or ended, only that it was…in an oddly endearing way.

Not that she was in a position to judge.

After a month of giving the concept of 'casual' wear a new definition, dressing down to shapeless clothing as a means to prevent unwanted attention, why was she so concerned about her appearance now? It wasn't like she cared what anyone thought. In fact, after the incident at the dumpster, she should be extending her efforts to being seen as sexless.

The only thing was that, after all that had happened between that afternoon and this morning, the incident seemed so long ago. That, beyond the chill-inducing shudders that appeared when she did recollect the matter—along with the vow to never go into the alleyway alone, it was a part of another life. As cliché and passé as that may sound.

Amazingly enough, the matter at the forefront of her mind was the way Gajeel had looked at her when she first woke that morning…

_"Calm down, Pip. It's not like anything had happened…Yeah. It's not that there's much to cover."_

Why did that have strong ties to her gut than being felt-up by a perverted creeper?

What did that say about her?

What had working at the shop done to her mentally?

If just a month working there had been enough to cause this much change, what would happen in the ones to come?

A terrifying thought to contemplate and had nothing to do with the outfit she put on before leaving Lucy to her interviewing research.

Not that any of this had anything to do with how she got dressed the morning. After all, it was laundry day, and—therefor—it wasn't her fault that none of her usual clothing was clean.

Right?

There was nothing she could do about the fact that the jeans she wore were a bit tighter than she usually did when on the clock, paired with a pale yellow T-shirt that managed to make it appear that she actually had breasts rather than her barely-there cup size.

Strictly following Mirajane's advice of T-shirt and jeans.

Not the pervert bait she obviously was…

She second-guessed her wardrobe a few times on the way out the door, wondering if it would trigger unwanted attention. Each time she thought of double-backing to her room to try to find something more appropriate…the image of Gajeel dropping his towel in front her, unfazed by the idea of her seeing him naked, made her continue forward.

That and the unceasing question of what had happened the night before.

Gajeel had been hiding something from her. Something she should spent their shift together exposing—that might not have been a wise choice in words—rather than focusing on other aspects. Such as that said moment when the towel dropped.

Stepping into the shop-front, the first thing her treacherous mind honed in on was his muscular body fit into his clothing. How tall he was and that his hair was a silken, black mane that cascaded down to the small of his back…somehow seeming more tame than its usual style of uncaring chaos.

"We got a fresh order of assorted bondage in the back." He didn't look towards her, continuing to reshelf some returned rentals. A pack of sanitizing wipes bulging out of his jeans' back pocket to clean off the covers before putting them back in the system. Not needing to see her to know who had stepped through the employee door. "Seeing that you don't trust me to stay with your insane organizational style, how about you document and store them?"

"It's not 'insane,' and completely logical to anyone who takes the time to learn it."

"How's the head feeling?" Cleaning his hands on a fresh wipe, Gajeel spared her a glance over his shoulder. Eyes hardening when he caught sight of her. No way of knowing what was going on behind their crimson surface. Levy had only played poker a few times, and was terrible at it. Her face being too honest. A flaw that Gajeel didn't suffer from. He probably would have cleaned house at a casino royale.

And Levy had been reading too many spy novels of late.

And Gajeel was obviously reverting back to his previous belief of hating her, possibly because he resented how much he had to take care of her the night before. Having time to think about it and stew over how idiotic and pathetic her actions had been, he might be—correctly—thinking that any kind of personal relationship with Levy was nothing but a burden.

Why did that thought make her gut twist about?

Self-consciously finger-combing her hair, left down, she stepped back into the back space…where Mirajane was waiting for her outside the office-break-room.

Well, yeah, Levy had forgotten about this as well. The remembering brought back all the disgusted awkwardness that she had been trying to avoid just a day before.

It was amazing how much could happen in such a short amount of time.

"Levy, could I have a word?" The silver-haired beauty's tone made this anything but a request and leaving Levy with no room to avoid or refuse.

"Um…sure." Trying to keep her voice neutral was a harder task that it should be and required several evenly spaced breaths before she attempted at continuing on stepping in through the open door into a space that had remained tainted. No matter how much happened between then and now, her skin still crawled on passing the threshold. "What's up?"

"I don't know, you tell me." Leaning against the desk, Mirajane crossed her arms over her chest. Drawing attention once again to the neckline cut into the plan T-shirt she wore. Levy's mind was assaulted with the memory of watching Laxus rip his co-owner's shirt off on that very desk over a night before. And making eye contact impossible. "Did I do something to personally offend you of late?"

"No, not exactly."

"Then why are you avoiding me…both in person and in the eye." Mirajane added the last part, bending her head so Levy had nowhere to look but directly into her gaze.

That did it.

That was what broke her will, which had become fragile over the events of the last day and a half.

"I saw you and Laxus having sex!"

Pink flushed across Mirajane's porcelain complexion, perfectly manicured fingers covering her mouth as her eyes darted to the door—which she had closed after Levy had stepped in seconds before. "Oh…God…"

"I didn't mean to—"

"Of course not." There was complete certainty mingled with the mortification tone in her voice. "You blush when you have to stock the movies. But…oh God…" Burying her face in her hands, her nails slide into her silver locks of hair. "I knew it was a bad idea to meet him here…not after he was gone for a month…but he just had to insist, we meet up and talk. Knowing that I can't say know no to him once his hands are on me…"

"Okay, I don't need further details." Levy fought off the desire to cover her ears and go '_la, la, la, la!'_ An act she might have given into if Mirajane didn't grab hold of her wrists the next moment.

"Please, promise me, you can't tell anyone about this." A tear was trekking down her cheek. "Please. I can't stand it if someone knew about this."

"Why? Aren't you two dating?"

Mrajane gave a watery snort. "No. Not hardly. We can barely stand each other…it's just that, when he's touching me…inside of me…Levy, have you ever had an orgasm that makes it feel like your body is being electrocuted in the most deliciously, toe-curling way—"

"La, la, la, la, la!" Levy stopped when she realized she was actually doing the act, rather than merely thinking about it, and how it made Mirajane's face take on a shade of barely disguised hurt.

"I'm sorry, this is clearly a very unprofessional conversation to try to have with you. I'm your boss, not your friend and—"

"It's not that!" Levy now took Mirajane's hands in hers. "It's not that I think of you as my 'boss'…though, I do that as well…or that I don't want to be friends. I just…well you said it yourself: I blush at the covers of porn. How do you expect to talk about some twisted sex-relationship with someone who never experienced it in any sense before?"

"Levy…Are you telling me that you're still a virgin." She appeared to be caught in lingering humiliation and amused shock fought for dominance of Mirajane's expression.

Paper could be lit off the heat radiating from Levy's cheeks at that moment. "Th-That's not the point! That point is that…" She had forgotten what the point of all this was, but now she had to make some kind of statement or look more a fool. "Whatever is it between you and Laxus has, something I will never talk about, tainted this space for me…" Levy waved her hands about to signal the entire room. "It's going to take a bit of time for my mind not to envision all the possible contaminates crawling about." Body deciding to stress my point, chose then to shudder. "May I just proclaim that we're alright, in both a friendship and professional sense, and make me leave of the area?"

There was definitely a sign of an intended smile. "You look like you want to bolt."

"I do want to bolt, desperately."

And a true smile finally bloomed. "Then bolt. And, Levy," she added when Levy grabbed the door knob. "You will keep this quiet, right?"

"Honestly, I just want to forget it ever happened." Joining the gesture of smiling over her shoulder, she added, "The moment I leave here, my intention that nothing of it will ever leave my lips."

"Thank-you."

"Don't mention it…I mean it. Seriously want to forget all about the incident."

"I agree completely. Wish it all would go away."

Fingers lingering on the door handle, Levy couldn't stop the obvious question from leaving her mouth. "Then, why do you keep seeing him…in that kind of capacity?"

"One day, when I don't feel like I am sullying the mind and heart of an innocent, I will have to enlighten you about Laxus' and my past. Fair warning, it doesn't always paint me in a gracious light."

* * *

"Alright, we have a problem." Levy stepped into the shop front a few minutes later, having finally been able to start the chore of documenting and storing away the new shipments. Mirajane had not been in the office and Levy walked into a bustling space. When she first started working here, Levy was surprised to realize that the store could get as busy during certain hours as popular restaurants or, for a less disgusting analogy, a legit bookstore.

"Levy-chan!" Droy and Jet made a bee-line for her. Though they had only seen her in her preferred manner of dress once, they seemed to have imprinted upon her. They seemed to frequent when they knew her to be working, and lingered longer than most clientele preferred to chat-her-up. Or, at least, try.

Both had asked her out on several occasion, and she had turned each down—rather bluntly—seconds later. She knew way too much about their personal tastes to contemplate seeing them in a social manner. Call her a prude, but she had to question a man who bought adult movies featuring grown women in frilly dresses—something along Levy's style but far more sexualized—who pretended to be innocents about to be dirtied by some kind of male-authority figure.

In fact, maybe it was the lack of her experience, she wondered why any of these 'toys' would be needed for something that should be a natural action.

Before the duo reached her, an arm draped about her shoulder. An arm dressed in a sleeve of an expensive suit.

Hibiki from Bob's club.

"I see that you finally took our advice of dressing up a bit for work. Have to say, I am not so often spell-bound by a simple transformation." The host flashed Levy a smile she knew was responsible for many a broken-heart and how Hibiki made his living off of. "Why don't you come and visit me tonight at work? I could entertain you…off the books."

"No soliciting within the store." A scarred hand grabbed Hibiki's wrist and freed Levy from her current state of captivity. "You're done with your shopping, so get going."

"I do believe that you need to go through another course about hospitality." Straightening invisible wrinkles from his suit, Hibiki instantly lost his charmed charisma while looking Gajeel over—having to bend back his head to meet Levy's co-worker in the eye. Where he and the other hosts treated all women with adoration, they either disregarded men or treated them with disdain. "Try to squeeze it in with, what I hope, your court-mandated anger management seminars."

All Gajeel did was curl his lip, sending warning flags through Levy's mind.

"Um…Gajeel, may I talk to you over here?" Trying to move his unwilling body was on par with trying to budge a boulder…with her mind. When he didn't oblige, Levy took a moment to plant her hands on her hips and huff out a glare up to him. "Please…" Still, no response. "Someone fucked up our order and, last time I called, they thought I was twelve and playing a prank."

Ley never used strong language, she nearly stuttered on the curse, but it was enough to get Gajeel to cease his staring contest and give her attention. Not that he seemed to consider her with any more warmth than he did before.

"Store space." Levy stressed, grabbing his hand and giving it another tug. This time, he stepped with her, looking down at their interlocked hands until she let go. Self-consciously rubbing her palms down her jeans, afraid that she had offended him through the over-familiar act.

She had a feeling that people who annoyed or offended Gajeel became broken…in one way or another.

Quickening her pace, remembering why she had avoided being alone with him for their first weeks of working together, Levy motioned to the open box sitting in the middle of the space. "See." Kneeling down, she tucked a stray strand behind an ear and started sorting through the contents. "We ordered mild-level bondage, fuzzy handcuffs and the like. Moderately innocent in comparison to racier products. What we received were all out S&M material. Gimp masks and nine-tails and…the like." Levy held up one product with the tips of her fingers; her research hadn't prepared her to identify how to begin figuring it out. "Which, would be fine, if we didn't already have a surplus of such. And it not being what we ordered."

Crouching down beside her, Gajeel rooted about as well. As if expecting to find that she was lying and their true order was dwelling under the surface—unknowingly causing Levy's doormat hormones to run amok when she caught a whiff of his natural brand of cologne. "Fuck." Tossing a pair of spiked cuffs—the spikes on the inside, to pierce the skin with the wearer struggled—back into the box, he stood up once more. "This is the third time that they did this to us."

"And it takes them weeks to resend the correct merchandise. Meanwhile, we're running low and get more and more back-ordered."

"That's why I'm going there in person."

All Levy could think of was the morning headlines: PORN SHOP WORKER GOES ON KILLING SPREE AT SEX TOY FACTORY.

"And, obviously, I am going to have to accompany you."

"Why?"

"To keep you from painting the streets red with sexual deviant blood…and someone needs to hold the box onto your death trap of a motor vehicle."

"No need. I didn't bring the bike today. You can stay here and flirt like a silly girl for a bit more hours."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, just that I am done protecting you when it's obvious that you don't understand the idea of caution. I mean, after what happened last night—"

"I don't know what happened last night, remember?" Standing as well, Levy broke into Gajeel's personal space and—self-protective instincts cast aside—jabbed at his chest with a shaking finger. "And you won't tell me what did. So, if you want to play the condensing card, at least do me the curtesy of explaining my actions."

"You don't need to know about what happened to know how poor a decision choice it is to dress like _that_ while on the clock. You're not Mirajane or Erza, you're nowhere near able to defend yourself. One lesson with the idiot twins wouldn't change that."

"Fine. Whatever. I'm a stupid little girl who doesn't know better to practice caution. I admit it. Seeing that I was insane enough to worry for a second what you thought of me. So, for the future, hold your thoughts to yourself and we can avoid such matters."

"Why did you care what I thought about? What did you think I thought?"

"We spent a night together…and you claim nothing happened! Sorry, you don't strike me as the kind of guy to abstain because the girl is drunk—"

Her breathless rant was cut off by Gajeel grabbing hold of her. Strong arms wrapped about her waist, making her feel both breakable and protected at the same time, as his tongue eased passed her startled lips to massage hers as he explored the interior of her mouth, nipping at her lower lip between ragged breaths. Cold metal of the piercings under his mouth warmed against her skin as hard metal of the shelving pressed against her back when he picked her up and use the storage space as leverage.

She could feel something else press against her, somewhere near her fluttering stomach. Something huge and more terrifying than the piercingly frigid look Gajeel gave Levy when he abruptly placed her on her feet once more.

"That is what happened last night. Nothing more. And you're lucky that I'm not the monster you think I am, or something more would have happened. You would have been completely oblivious to it…and, when you woke up with evidence of how thoroughly I fucked you, screaming rape come morning. I doubt that a tumble with you would have been worth jail time." Then, he marched off. Hatred trailing off him while all Levy could do was feel her lips and the fresh bruising there.

* * *

**[A/N: As usual, please forgive any/all typos.]**


	12. Chapter 9

**[Disclaimer: I own nothing…This is just for fun!]**

* * *

**9: Difference in Silence…**

* * *

In light of recent, confusing, events, Levy was more than willing to withdraw her offer to drive with Gajeel. No longer caring if he went on a murder-spree, afraid that she would be his victim if she remained within his sight for a prolonged period of time…and it was hard to hide when stuck on the cab's bench seat in the near-antique truck Gajeel seemed to favor driving when he wasn't straddling his bike.

Yes, once again, that came out worse than intended.

If it was up to Levy, she would have clocked out when the shift was over and go home to see how Lucy was fairing with Natsu and Gray. If the boys had lost their novelty and her friend was in need of rescuing. Maybe they could go off and grab some food at the bar, seeing Loki and getting some much-needed and well-meaning flattery.

Not that she had much of a choice in the matter.

{{Rewind to a Bit Before}}

Legs seeming to have lost any possible strength they could have possessed, Levy sagged against the shelving. Hand still to her lips, which felt both numb and over-sensitive at the same time, Levy stared at the empty room before her.

Still caught up in trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Levy?" Mirajane walked in minutes after Gajeel had left. Reading over an invoice on her way. "Sorry, saw you come in but couldn't get away from Macao and Wakaba. Now, what's going on with the order?" Looking up, her eyes narrowed when she took in Levy's current state.

The bruised lips.

The fact that, when she had been lifted off her feet, her clothing had become rumpled.

The shaking limbs.

And then looked back, as if doing so would confirm a suspicion forming in her mind…Which, obviously, it did. The next thing that happened was Mirajane turning about in a flash in her eyes that could only be described as righteous rage. "GAJEEL! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE NOW!"

Where Gajeel's kiss had left Levy in a dazed of tangled emotions that she didn't know where to begin the unraveling process. This aggressive—to use a blatant understatement—from Mirajane jolted Levy with enough shock to get her body functioning once more.

Scurrying after her boss's warpath, and being a second too late to stop the door of the office-break-room from closing and keeping her out of the conversation that erupted the next moment…making her reconsider the whole idea of knocking on the door and stepping inside. Instead, she appeased herself with the mature move of pressing her ear against the door. Though the act wasn't needed to hear Mirajane's opening comment…

"What. The. Hell!" Levy never understood the idea of making a word contain the weight of a complete sentence. That was until she heard Mirajane in a temper, and now understanding why Gajeel refrained from using any possible nicknames on the woman.

"What?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

There was a pause, before she heard Gajeel sign in reassignment. "It was nothing." Ouch. "Besides. After what happened, do you honestly think it is a good idea that she dresses like…that while interacting with your certain brand of clientele?"

"She's hardly running about in a maid dress or bikini and not your place to distribute lessons. If there is a problem, Laxus or I will address it. Now, if you are generally interested in Levy—"

"Easy there Mirajane. It was just a kiss. On a whim."

Double ouch, Levy could feel a mysterious pain stabbing through her chest at his disregarding words.

"To you, maybe. Not to a girl like Levy. She isn't your usual brand of play toy that you seem enjoy screwing around with. Yes, I meant that exactly how it sound."

"Mirajane, I was trying to show her how easy it would be for someone to overpower her…seeing that no amount of talking seemed to be seeping into her mind. Making her act out more than anything. Never let that girl get drunk, ever."

"Gajeel, since when have you ever cared enough about anyone—other than your roommate and brother—enough to take such drastic steps."

"I don't know, since when are you one to enter personal involvement in any of your employee lives?"

"Since I learned that Levy is….innocent."

Levy cringed. If there was one person she wanted to know about her lack of experience was Gajeel. All she could think about was his condescending smirk as he taunted her about the matter.

"So I keep hearing…though she sure doesn't kiss like one."

And…Why did that make her stomach do another round of somersaults?

"I really want to punch you."

"Wouldn't be the first time….though, it might be the first that you don't follow through with that desire. Anger management classes working?"

What?

Wait?

Mirajane…_Mirajane_…was in anger management?

Gajeel, Levy could understand. But…Mirajane?

"Regardless of all this, you are going to make this right…not only is Levy a sweet girl who doesn't deserve this behavior from you, but—from a legal and professional stand-point—a sexual-harassment lawsuit is the last thing I need to deal with. And could possibly kill this store."

"Fine…whatever. I'll clear things up with Pip when I get back."

"Back from where?"

"Need to clear up these order mix-ups—"

"They sent us the wrong items _again_?"

"Yeah, so a personal visit is in order. Seeing that you hate going there and being ogled at, I thought I would do a quick swing-by."

"And get in a brawl in the process."

"Why do you women think that I lack self-control?"

"Because, you do. And you're not going in there alone."

"You offering to come along?"

"Nope. You're going to use this as an opportunity to fix things with Levy."

"And what about the shop? You're going to man it yourself?" The way Gajeel said this made it known how highly he doubted this to be the case.

"Laxus is coming in soon anyway, we'll be fine."

Levy would have shuddered at the images that such words would bring to mind…if she wasn't busy being occupied worrying about what else these words implied…

And then she was hopping away, like a frightened bunny, when she heard footsteps draw closer towards the door she was currently leaning against.

{{Fast Forward to the Present}}

How was this, sitting uncomfortable silence as they took a drive outside the city and towards the satellite town where the distributor was located, going to make things right between them? Gajeel had yet to say a word to her, just turned on the radio and periodically tapped his thumbs against the steering wheel in evident aggression.

Impressions Levy got from the corner of her sight, unable to look at him directly. Her hands rested on her lap as she felt each bump and pothole the rickety vehicle managed to hit as they traveled further from city limits.

"Sorry." When the silence became too heavy, too suffocating, Levy had to break it or choke on the constrictions surrounding her. "I didn't mean that you would ever assault a woman, I just meant—from what I said before—was that the random drunken hook-up isn't out of the question for you."

"I knew what you meant."

Levy went to look at him, and found her head being turned back to face forward. Gajeel's fingers twined through her hair at the top of her head, controlling which way her neck twisted and keeping her from looking at him straight on.

"Eyes forward." He stressed before releasing his hold and returning his hand to the steering wheel. "And, yeah, knew what you were getting at when we talked before. Luckily for you, I wasn't drunk and…I'm sorry for implying that you would yell rape." Levy's head shot to turn to stare at him; Gajeel turned it back to face forward once more. "It's just that I know some guys that such things have happened to, and—at the same time—know girls who have been taken advantage of from not practicing caution. Maybe my tactics need some smoothing over."

"I'll try to be more careful."

"And we're going to start going to the gym after our shifts from now on." He repeated the edict he had made earlier that morning before nodding back towards the bed of his truck, where various odds and ends shifted about. One being a pink rucksack Levy didn't believe belonged to Gajeel. "By the way, Cora sent over your gym clothes from last night…don't wear them again."

"Um…okay. May I ask why?"

"Because, it's off-putting enough that I find myself attracted to a girl nearly a foot shorter than me…makes me feel like some pedophiling deviant that should be behind bars—"

"You're attracted to me?"

Again, he turned her head before she could see his expression. "I'm a man…anything with boobs is fair game. No matter, in your particular case, how meager of an amount that is. Unfortunately, your small chest is irrelevant by the fact that I am an ass man."

Levy's face flamed, but she did manage to keep from turning to look at him. Her eyes were once again intent on her hands. "You like my butt?"

"Wearing those tight jeans and short-shorts does not help things."

A nervous peel of laughter escaped Levy's lips. No matter how she tried to muffle it with her hand did nothing to help the matter.

"What can I say? I'm honest."

"Yes. Yes, you are." More nervous laughter followed. What was she supposed to do with this information?

Gajeel didn't seem to know either, simply turned up the radio and began to sing along to the rock song playing under his breath. Levy was surprised to realize that, from what she heard, his voice was rather pleasing to listen to. Deep, grating and…well…almost seductive.

"Do you play?"

"What?"

Levy nodded towards his hands, which were still tapping away. "Drums?"

"Hell no, that was always Rogue's thing…" Gajeel trailed off with a clenched jaw, turning up the radio further and making it obvious that the conversation was done.

At least, now, the silence was of a more companion nature than the stifling one of oppression from before.

* * *

"Redfox, what brings you here?" A white-haired man, wearing dress slacks that probably cost more than Levy's monthly rent but lacking a shirt, leaned against the doorway of the office Gajeel and Levy were shown to when they arrived at the non-descriptive building moments before.

"Because, you useless bastard, failed to have staffed yourself with employees who can read something as simple as an invoice." Gajeel growled out, not breaking in his stride to march past the half-naked man—a sight Levy was no longer phased by…the fully Monty being another matter—and reclined in the luxurious chair located behind the massive desk at the room's center. Ignoring the two, less impressive, chairs placed before it. The ones intent for visitors.

Not that the man seemed to notice. Slanted eyes almost seemed to smirk at the sight before turning towards Levy."

"And you are—"

"Keep away, Lyon, she works at the shop and is only here to keep me from breaking your neck and then having your little brother aid in hiding the body."

"You and Gray hiding a body?" Lyon snorted, lounging in one of the lesser chairs with his crossed ankles resting on top of his desk. Nearly knocking over a pile of papers in the process. Levy remained at the doorway, not certain where to go in this situation. "I would be found within hours and justice would be done."

"Gray?"

"My darling, adopted baby-brother…who has the IQ of an ice-cube."

"They both share a stripping fetish. Always makes me wonder what their mother was like—"

Lyon's gaze froze with him straightening in his chair and, causing Gajeel to hold up his hands in a disarming manner. Being able to recognize a low-blow when he gave one.

"All we're here for is our correct order. Along with your word that whatever petty feud you have going on with your brother will no longer influence our personal involvement. Or Mirajane and Laxus will have to go through another supplier."

Lips pursed, Lyon looked towards Levy, who was trying to mirror Gajeel's confident aura. All that she managed was to shrug and held her tongue. Even if she knew what to say in a haggling negotiations, something told her that this was along the lines of a dick-measuring contest between men.

She was only there to play ref if punches began to be thrown.

"Your order is in the warehouse, have Sherry get it for you and—for the record—this wouldn't have happened if Gray had just coughed-up Juvia's number when I asked." Expression taking on amused calculation once more, he steepled his fingers and leaned back against his chair once more. "Seeing that I have you here, that's no longer of concern. Seeing that you, being her roommate—"

"Juvia only wants Gray. Has only wanted him since they first met. No amount of creeping on her will change that. Now." Getting to his feet once more, Gajeel walked to Levy and took her elbow in hand. "We'll be on our way. Go back on our deal—send us another wrong shipment—and, believe me, Juvia will go from being apathetic towards you to downright hating the sight of your presence." And there was that condescending smile Levy never wanted to be directed towards her, if she could help it.

Lyon's response being in fuming silence.

* * *

**[A/N: As usual, please forgive any/all typos.]**

**[Sorry that this is such a short chapter. Between funerals, weddings, and work—I have had less than ideal time to write, but I wanted to give you guys something. Also, wanted to move Gajeel/Levy's relationship along…hence the conversation. Gajeel struck me as a guy who speaks his mind without care or embarrassment, hopefully this doesn't feel out of place to you.]**


	13. Chapter 10

**[Disclaimer: I own nothing…This is just for fun!]**

* * *

**10: A Night of Clichés…**

* * *

"Here." Before loading the truck with the correct order, Gajeel reached into the bed and pulled out the pink bag of gym clothing.

"Why give this to me now?" Getting onto her tiptoes, she glanced into the truck's interior. "Isn't there more room back there?"

"There's a space behind the seat. Just stash it there for now." Gajeel instructed before hefting up the box that she had just seen the factory worker struggle with as if it weighed nothing more than the pink bag he had just given her.

And he, this man with so much raw strength and power, admitted to being attracted to her.

It was just too surreal.

Shaking her head, trying to dislodge such thoughts that led to her skin enflaming, Levy crawled into the cab—again noticing how high the vehicle was off the ground and thinking that she needed either a step-stool or a rope ladder to gain access.

Kneeling on the bench seat, feet sticking out in the air, she tried to figure out how to move the seat back to do as instructed…and failed miserably. Grabbing the cracked vinyl, her body rocked about under the assumption that it folded down.

A grating chuckle made her startle and almost fall the long way to the ground. One hand caught her about the waist, keeping her on the safety of her perch, and the other popped the back out a few inches before taking the bag from her and tucking it away and locking the seat back in place.

"How is it that I keep forgetting how small you are? It's amazing that you're able to open a jar of pickles."

"Actually…" she trailed off, not wanting to inform him that she still had issue opening pickle jars and peanut butter lids. Possible awkward potential from her abrupt cut-off was covered by the even greater embarrassment of her stomach deciding to rumble on that moment. Loudly.

"Pip, when did you last eat?"

"Um…"

"And that is answer enough." Hauling her into the cab, so she was properly sitting on the seat, he went around and climbed behind the wheel. Though, 'climbing' was a less adequate word than 'barely stepped.' The man's legs were insanely long. "We'll grab burgers before we head back."

* * *

A fast food place at dinner time, one of the two should have known that it was going to be packed.

"Ten bucks say that they will ask if you want a Happy Meal."

"Not taking the bait."

"Don't tell me that actually happens."

"Don't want to talk about it."

And again with the grating chuckle that followed her to the counter, where a smiling cashier's grin changed in nature when she eyed by Gajeel. "Two number ones." He ordered without waiting for the scripted greeting that all in the service of one food-chain or another had memorized and probably recited in their sleep. "Put it on a tray, we'll eat it here." He added, voice drowning out Levy's protests when she tried to object to him pulling out his wallet and paying for the meals.

Just when Levy thought that interactions with Gajeel couldn't reach a new high, there presented a level of weirdness in a secret attic to where they had been standing before…metaphorically speaking. What actually occurred was the two of them sitting at a postage stamp of a table near the men's bathroom and a window that showed gathering storm clouds mounting on the horizon.

It felt way too much like a date for Levy to be at ease…to actually taste what she was eating.

Gajeel lifted a studded brow and shook his head from some kind of private amusement.

"What?" Levy's hand went up to cover her mouth, wondering if ketchup was smeared across her face or bits of pickle was stuck in her teeth.

"Nothing." Crimson eyes flicked towards the lightning flashing in the pillar of clouds rolling towards them. "Now, shut it and eat your food, I want to get back on the road before the storm sets in."

Levy looked down at the massive burger, as big—if not bigger—as her palm and the ridiculous amount of fries that she was expected to scarf down.

"Maybe I should have gotten you a happy meal." Reaching across the table, he snagged a handful of her fries. Helping her out with the task.

Levy's mouth dropped open, less from the act and more from how it caused his knuckles to brush across hers. Since the incident in the stock room, she was really trying to avoid physical contact with him. She could still feel where his arm wrapped about her at the factory like phantom fingers touching her side. It was almost tickling when she thought about it too long.

Gajeel mistook her expression to be about the more logical reason than the very different thoughts she was trying to banish from her mind. "What? Warmed up fast food is vile. And this coming from a man who once ate a hot dog I left in my truck overnight."

Nose crinkling at the thought, Levy pinched a few fries and dipped them in the mayo she had picked up with her straw.

"Mentioning vile things. Really Pip?"

"What? Have you ever tried or are you a boring ketchup only kind of person."

"What's wrong with ketchup?"

Eyes wide, too innocent for the situation. Not watching as she took another pinch and dipped the ends into mayo squirted across the paper covering her tray. "Nothing, just thought you would be more adventurous."

Leaning across the top of the table, he stole the bite she was intending to eat. Smirking when her mouth dropped open for a second time, showing fanged teeth. "Yeah…pretty disgusting, but—have to give you—not close to old hotdog vile."

"Small victories should be savored."

Gajeel's attention went from the stub of fries still being held in her fingers to her lips. Eyes wanting to say something that his lips wouldn't allow as rain began to pelt at the glass.

* * *

Rain hammered down on the roof of the truck, threatening to break through the rusted roof and drip down on where Levy was waiting for Gajeel to finish 'fixing' whatever happened to the tire a few minutes before.

Her best guess would be a flat, but he had been out there for quite a bit and murder-along-the-highway kind of scenarios were beginning to pop through her mind. To the extent that, despite her best judgment and how she used to scream at female characters for doing the same thing. Levy found that the waiting had become unbearable to the extent that nothing seemed worse than waiting in the cab a moment longer.

So, in true horror story manner, she opened the door and hopped out to check on what was taking him so long. She was drenched within seconds. Before even walking about the truck to where Gajeel was on his knees, staring up into the undercarriage with the weak beam of the flashlight he kept in his glove compartment as a guide. Mud churning about his legs and splattering onto his clothes.

The tire didn't seemed deflated to her.

"What's wrong?"

Flicking off the battery-operated torch, he rocked back on his heels and combed wet locks away from his face. A few strands getting caught on his array of piercings. "I think that it's the axil…but it's hard to say. Whatever it is, I can't fix it here."

"Which means…what, exactly?"

"That we're stranded here."

"Tell me that you're joking."

Standing, not seeming to care about the state his clothes were in—covered in mud and plastered to his body, Gajeel squinted his eyes at the nearest road sign a few feet away. The rain making it near impossible to see anything beyond a few inches before them. "Wish I was. Not looking forward to sleeping in the truck tonight."

"We're sleeping in a truck?" Where Levy would have enough room to spread out, there was no chance Gajeel's long legs would manage such. He seemed barely able to sit behind the wheel as it was, even with its extended bench seat. There was no way he would get any kind of rest.

Pulling out her phone, Levy checked for the dozenth time since they had pulled onto the road's shoulder to see if, by magic, bars had appeared. There was still the taunting message of 'no service' taking up the majority of the screen.

"Don't sound so mortified, Pip." Opening the truck door, he motioned her inside. And then picked her up when he finally noticed the gap in her height to the monstrous size of his vehicle. "It's just for one night and it's not like we didn't share a bed before."

A bed…yes. A massive mattress on the floor where she didn't remember sleeping beside him. This, in a cramped cab of a truck, was completely different. It was too cliché, like some scene from a movie or a really tacky romance novel. All this was missing was spontaneous stripping…

Climbing in after her, Gajeel shrugged off his jacket. Water droplets spraying about from the act, followed by him removing the shirt underneath.

Yeah, she called that. This was a sure sign that she needed to lay off the smut…or start writing to the Playgirl forum. Now was now the time to think about such things.

"Why are you stripping?"

"I'm cold."

Averting her eyes, not wanting to stare at the way his muscles played under his skin and remember what it looked like to see all of him, Levy bowed her head and allowed clumps of wet hair to tumble about her face. All the best to cover her blush with. "Then turn on the heater."

"Fuel is low."

"We're not driving anywhere."

"It's not good to have a stalled engine running for hours on end. We just need to dry off a bit and we'll be fine." Reaching behind him, he popped the seat's back and pulled a pile of cloth before shoving his soaked clothing in the same space.

Catching sight of her before the cab light dimmed after lighting on the door's opening, she noticed how Gajeel's eyes went from her face to her chest-region. That was when she realized that, despite her efforts, she had been staring at him…and that she hadn't put on a true bra that day, a simple one of the training variety more than met her needs. And was far more comfortable without all the needless padding and underwire that liked to dig into her ribs.

And, unfortunately, comfortable alternatives didn't hold up well when drenched.

"Here, take these." The clothes he retrieved were pushed into her arms.

"What about you?"

"I'm fine."

He definitely was…wait…where did that thought come from?

"I'll just get the bag." Twisting about where she sat, Levy tried to imitate how Gajeel seemed to effortlessly manage to pop open the space. And failed once more. It seemed to be stuck, or jammed, or rusted…or merely had an issue with girls manhandling it.

"Here." Gajeel's voice held an annoyance that had been absence moments before, making him the definition of a hot-and-cold personality. Breaking in her personal space, he went to do whatever it was he did to make his truck, which also seemed to suffer from the same disorder than its owner, obey.

"Why do you do that?"

Hands still before he could even try to open the space, Gajeel turned to face her. The tip of his nose brushing hers. Lingering rain drops from their hair gathered in the crevice between.

"Treat me like a nuisance? I mean, I know we talked about it earlier today, but then you go back and treat me like you want nothing to do with me at the oddest times. And," she added when she felt a shift into a territory that was becoming familiar, "if you kiss me right now to shut me up, I will slap you."

"If I kissed you now, it wouldn't be because I want you to shut up and everything to do with how frustrated I am about how you look right now." A calloused finger tapped her chin. "When I said I was attracted to you earlier, that wasn't a lie. The only problem is that one: it makes me begin to think that I'm developing tastes that will land me on dateline and…two: that makes it impossible for me to act as I normally would in this situation. And that's, trust me—if you were a guy—you would understand, frustrating enough to make even the most celibate and patient of men. Trust me, I'm not either."

His eyes scorched.

And it was Levy who initiated the kiss this time, twining water-weighed hair through her fingers and drawing him near. Reaching past her, Gajeel locked the passenger door before leaning her back against the closed window and took charge. Hands going to her hips to better lay her on the seat while he loomed above her, not stopping Levy when her hands traveled over the naked length of his torso. Hard muscles flexed and shifted under her touch, small groans escaping Gajeel's lips during breathes.

There were so many scars raising the surface at criss-cross groupings that she would wonder the origin of if her mind wasn't fixed on more savory matters. Like how he was exploring her mouth with slow deliberation, making it known that he was in no rush. That they had all the time in the world. That, moments ago, he wasn't discussing how frustrating he found her.

Hooking a hand under her knee, he wound her leg about his hip. Like with the store room earlier that day, she could feel the growing bulge in his jeans pressing against her. This time, lower than where it had been at her stomach.

The thought was both exhilarating as it was terrifying.

As was the warm hand resting at her hip, thumb stroking small circles in the space between the bottom of her T-shirt and the top of her jeans. Slowly traveling up under the wet material, darkened to a close shade to Levy's natural skin tone and pressed against her like a second skin that he slowly peeled away. Making her shiver as the air hit the damp skin of her torso.

Palm reaching her ribs and cupping one of her breasts with greedy fingers…

_"Not much there. But I'm not picky."_

Body stiffening, her hands went from caressing his washboard abs to shaking and pushing him away. Jerking at her shirt to cover her once more before curling into a protective ball with her arms concealing her face. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" Her voice was a watered gasped, trying not to cry. "I'm not this kind of girl…I'm not a tease…or some kind of slut…or an empty headed cliché from a vampire-romance or one of those porns that pretends to be literature with all the bondage and…I'm sorry…I don't know what I'm doing…"

"A couple of seconds ago speaks otherwise." Gajeel didn't sound angry, as she suspected he would. It only made sense that he would be pissed. She was just chastising him for being hot-and-cold…and here she was giving him mixed-signals that touched on the bi-polar. Instead of portraying understandable rage at her leading him on—for being a tease she never thought she would be—he sounded resigned. As if he expected this to happen.

"I don't know how to do the guy stuff, having no experience in the matter—"

"Pip—"

Raising her head, Levy forced herself to look at where his long legs were cramped by him sitting as closed to cross-legged so he could continue facing her. "I mean I have _no_ experience in the matter. And I shouldn't want you like…this…" She waved her hands about before she buried her face once more in the fetal position when she found that she could no longer take the sight of realization slowly seeping across his features. "And yet my hormones seem to have gone haywire except for when I remember that creeper touching me and…I'm sorry…" Her hand went to the door's handle, planning on going out and taking her chances with the storm rather than die of the embarrassment she was certain could be lethal.

She just wanted to go back to a time before she had stepped into the store and all this had happened. A boring life with no complications that someone like Gajeel seemed to carry in stock was better than this constant torment of unknowns.

Why was she drawn to him?

And why wouldn't the damn door open?

That's right, it was locked.

"Pip." The same calloused hands from before gathered her up against him. She struggled at first, not knowing what his intent was, until all that he seemed set on was to place her back against his chest. Between legs that he could nearly stretch out to their full extent, now that she was no longer in their way, before the heels of his boots hit the door. "Get some sleep." A hand, awkward with uncertainty, smoothed over her tangled mess of hair.

"But—"

"Just. Sleep. I think we had enough drama today to last us for the rest of our lives. At least, I know that I have."

* * *

**[A/N: As usual, please forgive any/all typos.]**


	14. Intermission 3

**[Disclaimer: I own nothing...This is just for fun!]**

* * *

**Intermission 3: A Brother's Love…**

* * *

Even at sixteen, Gajeel was tall. More gangly then he would as a grown man, having yet to fill into his stretched frame with the power promised by his sheer size and the light glinting in his scarlet eyes. A harsh tone—an understanding—that spoke of a familiarity with the truth of the world.

That it isn't the fairy tale land that stories and the adults, who such read each night, would want their children to believe.

A spark lacking in Rogue's gaze. Something partially that Gajeel was responsible for, seeing that he had gone out of his way to protect his younger brother from discovering this understood truth for as long as possible. It wasn't that Dragon House was a nightmarish realm that some orphanages and foster homes could be…it was where they had been prior to their admittance that had exposed Gajeel to this insight at a young age.

And it had been something he never outgrew.

Nor was the instinctive impulse to keep his gentle brother from harm's way…

Now, facing down the infamous crime lord, wasn't an exception.

It was said that no one had ever stared down Jose 'The Phantom Lord' Porla for longer than thirty seconds without meeting an untimely end. Gajeel was on his fiftieth heartbeat, and showing no sign of wanting to avert his gaze.

Expression giving nothing away. Not how much his eyes wanted to water or, at least, tick away some of the tension building under the skin. To any onlooker, the only emotion he expressed was cold fury. Refusal to break the heavy silence nor to back away from the challenge the older man presented.

It was the Phantom Lord himself who broke into a smile and steepled his fingers before him. Impressive mustache twitching in light of having come to this by a teenager's will. "I understand the source of your discontent—"

"I'm not discontent. Discontent comes from petty things such as someone forgetting to put fries in my order's bag or robbing me of a grade on a test. For something like this," gaze still on Jose, Gajeel inclined his head towards where his brother laid curled into the fetal position on the warehouse office's floor, "pisses me off."

Reaching into his desk, Jose pulled out a folder close to splitting from the papers stuffed within. Putting too much care into pretending to be aloof while flipping through the legal documents within. "According to your juvenile record, that is something that a wise man should avoid." Through this act and statement, Jose was trying to pique Gajeel's curiosity on how he managed to acquire legal documents.

Bait that Gajeel had no time for. Shoving hands into his pockets, Gajeel rocked back onto his heels and cocked his head in a taunting manner. "A wise man wouldn't have fucked with my brother to get to me." It hadn't been a secret that some of the larger gangs were intent on recruiting Gajeel for muscle work, especially after his brushes with the law became more frequent.

None he was tempted to take, seeing that he didn't cause trouble for the thrill or desire. Gajeel seemed to have been struck with the curse of attracting trouble, or so Metalicana—the priest who seemed to take on the task of mentoring Gajeel over the years—would have liked to say.

The selfish bastard seeming to be right about this, if nothing else during Gajeel's upbringing. And something he commented on every time he had to pick up the wayward youth from whatever form of cell, either the holding at the station or the tiny one at the mall or anything in between, Gajeel was being held in.

"How else was I supposed to gain your attention? You, young man, are harder to nail down than most of those I have recruited." Beady eyes darted towards where some of his personnel lined the wall, guarding their boss from the threat that they knew the lanky teenager posed.

Again, he didn't take the bait—aimed at intimidating him from losing his mask of bravo. "Well, you have it now. Though, not paired with an open mind." Gajeel could feel his body vibrate with the lone desire to go to his brother's side. To assess the damage done. Insides in agony from having to play Jose's game or lose needed ground to get out of this situation with both of them intact.

What had possessed Rogue to go to this extent for aid?

Gajeel told him that he had the situation in hand, that he would get the money needed for Rogue's tuition in one way or another. That he didn't have to worry about being left behind by his friends and have to go to public high school.

How his docile little brother managed to become best friends with a rich brat like Sting, was something Gajeel could never understand. But, hell, he wasn't one to judge and only wanted his brother, the only person he owed any form of loyalty towards, to do well in life.

Something that a private academy like Sabertooth, could offer.

"Your little brother owes us a considerable amount." Jose tossed the file onto the desk top, causing some of the papers to slide about and flutter to the floor. Gajeel noticed that his first ever mug shot landed against the steel-toe of his right boot. "With no foreseeable means to repay me."

"He's fourteen, what did you expect?" Gajeel knew the answer, but wanted to see if Jose was man enough to admit that he used an innocent, desperate boy as a means to ensnare the true target.

With a shrug, Jose looked at Rogue rather than his brother. "He assured me that he had means."

Yeah, Jose lacked balls. That didn't mean that changed the situation, or what Gajeel was going to have to do. It just meant that he was entering a deal with a dick-less wonder.

"And, I assume, interest is involved."

"Of course. After all, I am nothing more than a simple business man and have to gain a living somehow. Nothing is free, especially money."

There was no need to ask how much was involved nor how high the interest percentage was set. All this came down to was how long Jose could get out of him for it. "Three years." He started low, knowing that he would be lucky to get anything less than fifteen.

Chuckling, Jose shook his head. At least not stooping further in Gajeel's opinion by asking about what Gajeel referred to. "For the amount owed, we're looking at nothing less than twenty. And that's me being generous, seeing that I am a sucker for the beauty of a brother's love."

"Five."

"That will hardly cover the interest. I'll give you fourteen, make your release my gift to you on your thirtieth."

And so it went, the haggling for Gajeel's length of servitude. A terse back and forth between crime boss and the young man he had seen the potential in and wanted nothing more than to possess.

Ending with Gajeel giving an ultimatum. "Ten years, and you cover for all of Rogue's educational needs…or I walk, and the cops come in."

"You wouldn't dare, your brother would be dead before any arrests could be made." Jose's lips said, but his eyes dilated from the unexpected twist.

"Yes, which means that—when your sorry ass is locked away—it will be for murder…and you will be faced with a lifetime of being passed about prison like cigarettes. Being a new man's bitch every night. It's ten years of service and a golden education for us, or an endless round of being butt-fucked for you."

Jose might have a reputation for the stare down, but he was the one to look away from whatever resided in Gajeel's stare.

"After those ten years are done, we'll discuss your contracted employment obligations further."

…

…

…

It had been years since Gajeel dreamt—or even gave time to think—about that night, when his life had changed on buying Rogue his future. Seeing no need to dwell on the past when he had far more important things to focus on in the years that followed.

It had been a decade full of acts he wanted nothing but to forget and move on from.

Another life.

One far from his current position of uncomfortably stretched out on his truck's bench with a warm, lithe body pressed against his chest. Levy's hair had dried tussled, curling about her face and seeming to almost want to climb up his chest like blue strands of ivy.

Her clothes had also dried, but did nothing to conceal the figure beneath.

And that lone look was enough for Gajeel to feel his body begin to react.

Why did he want her so much?

If she hadn't freaked-out and pulled the brakes when she had, he wouldn't have stopped fucking her until the sun came back and it was time to hike to a garage. He had been so sure that all he needed was to get inside her to get this unnatural pull out of his system.

Now, a large part of him still believed this to be the case. That he just had to add her notch to his tally to be able to move on. Be that taking her virginity or not…And the mere fact that he even took it being Levy's first time into consideration, that he cared enough to think about the possible weight of the situation, made a slivered segment of his mind begin to see red flags.

A part currently small in portion, but one he feared may grow in size.

He only needed two fingers to count those he truly cared about, that he would go to large extents for. He would hate nothing more than to have to add another finger.

Still asleep, Levy turned about. Cheek pressing into his chest as her fingers curled and uncurled where they rested on his thigh, causing Gajeel's jeans to become even more uncomfortable than they had been seconds before.

And…he may be in trouble.

* * *

**[A/N: As usual, please forgive any/all typos.] **

**[Ok, have been busy with school work and personal matters involving my aforementioned friend. I wanted to give your guys a new chapter—sorry that it is so short**. **Next post should be a proper chapter and will be significantly longer. As for the content, I have an idea for the basic layout for the next few chapters, which will have a lot more Gajeel/Levy…resulting in some smut. Also, asked before—but didn't get a reaction either for or against—do you guys want more of the Mira/Laxus storyline? Answers will dictate some of the actions in the chapters to follow. Also: Lucy/Natsu or Lucy/Loke…I like both, so have been holding back from committing to either, and have decided to leave it to you guys.]**


	15. Chapter 11

**[Disclaimer: I own nothing…This is just for fun!]**

* * *

**11: The Friend Zone…**

* * *

"Gajeel, the clothes' washer is broken…again." Bending down, Levy inspected the inside of the appliance. Hoping that, by some magical force, she would be able to discern and fix the problem merely by the power of her will.

And, for the third time that week, failed in doing so.

Warm, calloused hands cradled her hips. Snagging the material of her short sundress and causing the hem to lift a few inches. "Yep, it's broken…what do you want me to do about it?"

"Weren't you the one going on about how you're 'the man of this relationship' the other day?"

"First…I think you have me mixed up with Elfman and…second…if I did say that, it was probably because you were trying to bully me into something. None of which means I have magical clothes'-washer-fixing abilities."

Turning in his hold, Levy couldn't keep a pout from her lips. Not commenting on how his palms found their way from her hips to her ass, now made visible by him hiking her dress near her waist. "It's made of metal."

"So?"

"Obviously metal is your thing." She waved a hand towards the array of piercings decorating his face, squeaking when he lifted her off the ground and placed her on top the dryer. "Now is not the time for this."

"Now is _always_ the time for this." Gajeel countered, tugging at her panties and placing a jolting nip at the exact junction of neck and shoulder. "Let me fuck you now…and I'll let you do the washing off my abs later." That idea had proven workable during the two other times that the traditional washer had refused to perform.

He did have fantastic abs for such tasks…

Moaning as his fingers moved lacy boy shorts down her legs, replaced by the rasped heat of his jeans pressing against her, Levy pushed up the material of his shirt and began tracing the rigid contours of his torso with her tongue.

"Fuck, Pip, you're going to make me come in my pants." Fingers twinging in her hair, Gajeel tugged her head back so his lips could claim hers. Tender despite the primal lust radiating from his eyes, along with every pore of his being. "How is it that you can get me hard at just a look?" He added, lips still brushing her, as he fumbled with his jeans.

Levy's teeth bit onto her lower lip as her short fingernails dug into his broad shoulders, preparing for the euphoric delight she had grown to need like an addict…

_Bzzz_

_Bzzz_

_Bzzz_

…

…

…

Levy's eyes snapped open with a frustrated groan created from a mixture of very conflicting emotions that she had, unfortunately, grown accustomed to over the past few weeks. Having lost count of how many sex dreams she had that starred her co-worker, her previous theory of their inception deriving from going straight to bed after clocking-out at the shop was far from accurate. And, therefore, had been dismissed after the first week.

Despite that, she continued to try to buffer her mind with as much imagery possible.

Yesterday, she had worked the morning shift…like the five days before that…and-like all the days before-had made sure to fill her conscious with any image—from gory horror movies she could barely watch without running out the room screaming to wholesome family films where a kiss was the height of impropriety—that would buffer out the porno her unconscious brain had become. All she was missing was the sleazy mood music and Gajeel being some kind of delivery boy.

What the hell was wrong with her?

Getting out of bed, she refused to take in her reflection, knowing it involved flushed cheeks and bruises from where her teeth dug into her lips, on her way to the bathroom for her morning shower. A change in her routine since she realized the dreams were going nowhere.

Maybe, the dreams were caused from the lack of any romantic spark developing between her and Gajeel during the weeks that followed the debacled trip to the factory. It appeared that her freak out in the truck had been enough for Gajeel to securely place her into the 'friend zone.'

It wasn't that he had turned back on the icy personality during their interactions. In fact, as promised, he started accompanying her to Elfman's gym every day and was as pleasant as Gajeel could be during their shifts together…but there was now an obvious wall between them. One of Gajeel's construction and desire that began to form the moment she woke up that morning in the truck.

When she opened her eyes, she was still laying against his naked torso. He had been so warm, smelled so good, and all she could feel was how foolish she had acted the night before. Being the one to initiate the kiss and then freaking out from a memory of a different man. _"Gajeel_" Not sure how to go about the conversation, or what she even wanted to say, she had straightened up and tried to comb her hair into any semblance of order while starting with a the cliché of_ "about last night"_ as a means to buy some time to think.

"_Pip. What happened last night was last night. We don't need to talk about it."_

And they hadn't.

Nor acted on whatever spark had been flickering between them that entire day. Something that seemed to have been snuffed out of existence the moment she shoved him away.

When they practiced basic self-defense maneuvers, simple skills she could learn but never risk suffering from the delusion of thinking she would ever become a true badass, he only held her as long as needed to stress a point. No lingering fingertips or taking an opportunity to turn the situation, where Levy was normally left breathless and sweaty while he was insufferably smug and composer, into something more.

Not that the only thing Levy wanted to do rip off his clothes and have at it—at least her conscious mind, with the other aspects of her brain keeping her suddenly rebellious id in check—whenever they were together…

She still felt rejected somehow.

Not that she wanted to date Gajeel or anything…

They were far too different types of people to be anything except friends. He would be a terrible boyfriend, as clueless in that title as Levy would be with being anyone's girlfriend. Let alone with a guy like Gajeel…who seemed far from the commitment and relationship type.

And there was no way that Levy could do anything casual, seeing that she didn't have a set foundation to develop the jaded aloofness making her emotionally able to handle a string-and-emotion-free arrangement.

Yes, the friend zone—one without any form of benefits beyond self-defense training and the ability to get items off a top shelf—was the best for them both to be placed.

No matter how good one of them might look without a shirt…

Or how well he can kiss…

Or how good it felt to be in his arms…

Or…

Reaching out, Levy twisted the shower handle to go from comfortably warm to cold and rested her forehead against the tiles. She needed to get a grip.

* * *

"I need girl talk and Lucy is as clueless about men as I am. Don't let the boobs and self-confident way she sometimes tends to demand attention fool you, she blushes as much as I do when she's stalking the shelves." Yes, along with the other matters that had changed during the past few weeks, Lucy starting part-time at the store was listed near the top. A means to gain some 'real world' experience, seeing that all the great writers seemed to come from humble backgrounds.

Not heiresses.

Odd.

A bit. At least at first. It was probably odder how easily Lucy merged in with the insanity of the shop's personnel. Even Laxus seemed to accept Lucy long before he had Levy. That might be because he didn't mistake her for an elementary student and enjoyed the sight of how she filled her clothing.

Not that this had any true point to the current predicament, which involved Levy braving the office—a still tainted aspect of the store that was avoided down to the bare minimum exposure—and near shouting this towards where Mirajane sat at the desk, working her way through quarterlies.

"Um…ok?" Was all the silver-haired woman could think to say as Levy closed the door and placed a chair from the employee table under the knob to keep any from wondering into the conversation. "Do I want to ask what the problem is, or should I just nod along with your ranting?"

"You can't judge me."

"Nodding along it is." Dropping the pen she was writing with, Mirajane watched Levy pace about the room. Fueled by fanatic energy of desperation.

"I mean, your secret is WAY worse than mine. You're actually doing the act while I'm…well…I'm fantasying about it. A lot. And I need to find my brain's off switch stat or I am going to…I don't know…quit here and start working at Cana's or follow in my predecessor's footsteps and get knocked-up by some random client."

"In Bisca's defense, Alzack adores her. Now, my nodding plan can only go so far." Standing, Mirajane barred the path of Levy's trek and herded the smaller woman to sit at the remaining chair at the employee-break table. "I find that some background is going to be needed if I'm to serve as any kind of aid beyond a sounding board. Start at the beginning."

And Levy did…all of it.

Every humiliating detail.

After all, as she said before, Mirajane was the last person who could judge her in this particular situation.

"…So now I have no clue where any of this stands. Is he making a point of pulling away from me because of how I handled what occurred at the truck? Or is he just not really interested, especially now that he realized just how inexperienced I am? Or is he gay and thought I could be a convenient beard but realized that—?"

"Gajeel is far from gay." Were the first words Mirajane had said since Levy began her narration. Twisting a lock of her perfectly styled hair about pale knuckle, she watched Levy squirm in the chair with calm calculation. "First, let it be known that any guy who ditches a girl because she isn't ready or hesitant because of either something traumatic happening to her or lack of experience—both of which you fall under—isn't worth all this effort. That aside, hon...and I hate to tell you this...but you're suffering from the common ailment known as the 'bad boy complex.'"

"The bad boy complex?" Levy crinkled her nose as she said the words. "Sounds like the title of a tacky romance novel."

"Yes, but these—unlike those those—kinds of things rarely end in happily-ever-after. Believe me, I know. And, yeah, you're right. I have nowhere to judge you in this regard. Seeing that I am a slave to this particular phenomenon as well." Pulling up the desk chair so she could sit in before Levy, Mirajane took the younger woman's hands in hers. "Unlike you, I brought my predicament onto myself."

"I doubt—"

"Levy-chan, I am far from a good person." Holding up a finger, Mirajane silenced Levy's desire to argue. "When I was younger, I believed that anything could go. That, if I wanted something, I should just take it, no matter who it hurt. Laxus was one of these things. We grew up together, I watched him turn from a sickly kid to the man you know today, and—when we were seventeen—I decided I wanted him…despite the fact that he had a girlfriend. I think this inescapable draw I feel towards him is punishment for what I did back then."

"I'm sure it's not that bad."

"The first time we had sex was in the pool of his girlfriend's house…during her birthday party."

Levy winced. That being far worse than she thought possible.

"It took me a long time to figure out that how I was behaving was not just wrong, it was painful to so many involved. And, even then, it took losing someone so dear to me to clean up my life. Unfortunately, by that point, it was too late to cut out certain aspects of my behavior. Laxus being that exception. Luckily, for you, my case is rare." With a sunny smile, such a contrast to the pensive expression of near sorrow she wore seconds before, broke across her face as she gave Levy's hands a comforting pat. "And there is more than a slim hope of you getting over this with minimum withdraw."

"How?"

"The best way to get over a bad boy is to go out with a good guy."

"Yeah, read this plot, it never ends well."

"It does with the _right_ good guy. He has to be thrilling enough to keep you from missing that aspect of being with your bad boy of choice. Also, he has to be sexy enough to reign in your rampaging hormones. Luckily for you, I know the perfect guy to set you up with—"

"I don't think—"

"Trust me on this. He's a friend of Evergreen, is an avid reader to the extent that he served as a linguist in the military, and is really easy on the eyes." Still seeing the uncertainty in Levy's expression, Mirajane gave her fingers a squeeze. "At least meet him, one date is all I'm suggesting. Which is a far better plan than laying around your house, waiting for the next Gajeel starring sex dream to arrive."

Well…when she put it like that…

* * *

When Levy finally went out to the shop's front to work her shift, already an hour into her scheduled time, she did so with her head reeling from the realization that she had a date for that very night. All it took was one call from Mirajane for it all to be arranged.

Far less dramatic that she would image such things could go.

Who agreed to go out with a complete stranger?

Ok…well…that was a loaded question. After all, Levy agreed to this before he did.

"Everything alright, Pip?" Gajeel, feet resting on the counter as he flipped through the newspaper, asked when Levy emerged from the door.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Nothing really, you were just back there for a _long_ time. Any longer and I suspect Mira would have joined you and Bunny," his nickname for Lucy, "in your monthly bleeding. Don't think that the men here could take three of you going through PMS at the same time. Thank God that Titania works alone on overnights, or we would have to close shop once a month to duck and cover from the carnage."

"Feel like I should hit you now."

Turning a page, eyes not on the words printed there, Gajeel lifted a brow and looked back towards her. "Go ahead, we both know I won't feel it."

Yeah, there was sad truth to that.

Not bothering to dignify his words further, Levy went to work on stocking the DVD returns. Several long seconds followed before Gajeel dropped his feet and stood, leaving her in control of the empty shop on going back through the door that Levy had just emerged from.

And then, somehow, re-emerged through the front door a few minutes later…

After a change of clothing—the usual ripped jeans and plaid-button-up pulled over a beater had switched with black leather pants paired with a turtle-necked sweater of the same color, both appearing to be of designer quality.

And receiving a haircut—waist-length mane being sheered to barely brush the nape of his neck with long bangs hanging over one eye…

And mysteriously losing all his piercings…

What?

A gentle smile turned up his lips when his visible eye found where Levy stood, making her face instantly flush. A tenderness being there that she had never seen grace the harsh panes of Gajeel's face.

"Hello, is Gajeel Redfox here by any chance?" The voice of this Gajeel, who clearly wasn't Gajeel, was sheer musical lilt. Far from the familiar grate of the one she knew.

"Um…" Regulation dictated that employees couldn't divulge personal information about their co-workers. Such as shifts worked and contact information. Did this fall under that category?

Levy was saved from this possible ethic choice by the man in question himself.

"Rogue?!"

"Hey big brother—" Rogue's, who Levy now realized to be Gajeel's brother, words were cut off when Gajeel literally leapt across the shop's counter to pull the smaller man, more slender rather than his brother's powerfully intimidating build and a few inches shorter in height, into a hug that seemed far out of character.

"You jackass, why didn't you tell me you were in town?" Hug turning into headlock that was more befitting of Gajeel's personality.

Rogue twisted in his brother's captive hold, shoving a playful elbow into Gajeel's stomach. The affectionate acts of violence reminding Levy of puppies in a basket. "That would negate the idea of a 'surprise' now wouldn't it?"

"What did you do? Eat a fucking dictionary?"

"It's called reading."

"Between you and Pip, I'm going to become a nerd by exposure."

Dropping the rough-housing, Rogue cocked his head so a bit of his curtained bang slid aside to show the hint of scars dwelling underneath. "Pip?"

Gajeel waved a dismissive hand towards where Levy stood, the only display he gave to indicate being aware of her remaining presence. "Just a friend from the shop. Now, why are you here?"

Ouch.

Well, she had said it herself. If there was doubt before, there was no longer denying that Levy was officially locked away in Gajeel's friend zone.

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**[A/N: As usual, please forgive any/all typos.]**


	16. Chapter 12

**[Disclaimer: I own nothing…This is just for fun!]**

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**12: Chaperone(s)…**

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There were two Gajeels. Thinking about the possibilities sporadically across the last few weeks, the theoretical image of two imposing men had been used as a mental block for unwanted thoughts, was completely different than the knowing.

Especially when the two's temperaments were taken into consideration.

"So, you're friends with my brother?" Rogue's lips quirked into a small smile as he leaned onto the counter. The rules of 'employees only' still stood, that not barring him from lingering about the store until Gajeel's shift was finished. Hours spent with him lending a hand when he could, mostly including helping Levy reach higher shelves, and idle chit-chat when Gajeel had to leave the store front.

Such as at the moment.

Crossing her arms on the glass, elbows almost touching his on the narrow space, Levy rested her cheek against her folded hands. Exhaustion from so many nights of interrupted and restless sleep was beginning to take its toll. "You sound surprised."

Subtly stealing a roll of receipt paper and one of the counter pens, visible crimson eye flicked towards her face as his hand started to make quick strokes across the glossed surface. "Not so much surprised as pleased. You don't fit into Gajeel's usual pool of friendships...Not that he has many of them." He added after a thought, catching another glance at her before returning his attention to whatever it was that he was drawing.

"I would say that has to be a lie, but…I kind of thought he was a rapist when we first met."

Where Gajeel's laugh was grating with mockery and condescension, Rogue's was as musical as his speaking voice. The smile paired with it far softer than his big brother's edged ones. Yet, it wasn't accompanied by the stomach-fluttering sensation that she associated with his brother's harshness.

"Yeah, well, he definitely has some rough edges."

Levy snorted at the understatement.

Rogue's smile grew.

"Do I want to know?" Gajeel, carrying a box of odds and ends, came back from the stock area. Pierced brows raised as he took in the sight of his little brother and Levy talking. "And what are you drawing?" He added, coming around the counter to look down at where Rogue was doodling.

Mouth growing thin with tension at whatever he saw before reaching down and taking the receipt slip and crumbling it into a ball.

"Hey—"

"Come on Emo, I just saw Titania's boyfriend pull away."

"Erza has a boyfriend?"

Shoving the discarded piece of receipt slip into his pocket, Gajeel planted a hand onto the counter. Somewhere between Levy and Rogue's elbows. "Really, Pip, you worked here for how long and you never noticed the blue-haired rich boy with a facial tattoo who drops Erza off every night?"

"I guess I really don't pay much attention." Where she found Rogue's presence to be soothing comfort that put her at instant ease, Gajeel could instantly frazzle her already frayed nerves. Though, that might be the aftershock of one too many dreams and not close to enough sleep talking.

"You think?" Shaking his head, Gajeel absently hit Rogue's shoulder. "You want to head over to my apartment?"

Smiling not losing strength, but gaining a mockingly confused note, Rogue managed to run his fingers through his hair without disturbing his shielding bangs. "Or we could get something to eat, seeing that I just spent five hours hanging around here waiting for you to clock-out."

"I'll be there in a bit, just need to swing by the gym with Pip and a few of the guys."

There becoming an unofficial tradition with some of the shop's employees about going to Elfman's after the evening shift ended. Time spent with Lucy and Levy learning self-defense while the guys broke into spontaneous fights—sometimes into all-out brawls that spread throughout the entirety of the gym—and the one swim instructor, Gajeel's roommate, lurking about at the edges with eyes intent on Gray.

Chaos.

Mayhem that Levy had a strange fondness for and always looked forward to, except for at the moment…

"Actually, Gajeel, I've been meaning to talk to you about that."

Gajeel's narrowed as he watched Levy fidget under his attention, twirling the tip of her ponytail and become fascinated with the scuffed toes of her duct-taped high-tops. "What?"

"I have other plans tonight."

"And you're telling me about this now?"

"Didn't know about it until Mirajane made the call."

"The call?"

Face flaming, Levy combed back her bangs—wishing that she could wear her ribbons without risk of being attacked by pedophiles—and began to mutter the explanation in a rush so Gajeel wouldn't understand….until she remembered, once again, that Rogue had summed it up perfectly. Gajeel saw her as nothing but a friend. Lifting her chin, she allowed her blush to show as she explained. "Mirajane set me out on a blind date."

"Why?"

"Because she thought I could use some social time that doesn't involved you and Natsu breaking all the mirrors of the gym's dance studio…while there is a class going on. Seriously, those little girls will never be the same again." Shaking her head in a tragic manner, Levy gave Rogue a small wave in farewell on her way to the door. "See you later, _friends_."

* * *

"Angel, I don't want to alarm you…but there are two tables of people staring you down, like mail-order-bride recruiters, and a very attractive man coming this way." Pausing in his wiping, Loke gave Levy one of his off-handed smiles that caused many a woman go weak at the knees. "And, yes, as a man completely secure with my sexuality, I can say that without it being weird."

Mirajane had thought it a good idea for Levy to meet with her unknown date at somewhere familiar. Unfortunately, it was a familiar place for both Levy and all those she knew. On arriving, she had seen that Lucy and the girls, including Mirajane herself, had already snagged a corner-booth. Then, after claiming her usual stool, she noticed a not so casual entrance announced a few minute later that started with Natsu managing to make his voice louder than the music playing.

"Levy, I heard that you're going on a date with some pervert who is going to try to date-rape you! Hey! Levy!"

About this time was when Levy buried her face in her hands and tried to disappear. Hoping that the blood rushing to her face would drown out whatever was being yelled towards her from the table Natsu claimed for him and some of the guys from the shop and gym.

But, thankfully, no Gajeel.

He was probably out with Rogue.

Not that she should be sparing thought on him when she turned her about in her stool to see who Loke was talking about, and nearly collided knees with him in the process.

The only thing stopping the accident being him steadying the back of her stool at the last minute. Instantly breaking into her personal space with an uncertain smile. "Levy McGarden?"

"Um…yes?" She hadn't meant to answer in a questioning form, but that was all that was all she could manage after looking up at the man Mirajane set her up with. 'Easy on the eyes' had been an understatement. There being an elegant, gentlemanly quality to his appearance. Even in a plain pair of slacks and a fisherman sweater, there was a strict manner about his bearing that brought military regulation directly to mind.

Smile gaining certainty, the man offered her a hand. "Freed Justine." His voice had a mellow quality that she didn't doubt could be authoritative. "Sorry I'm late." Taking the stool beside her, he nodded at Loke when the bartender placed a menu before him. The act caused a a few stray locks of green hair, the majority of which tied back at the nape of his neck, fell into dark-blue eyes. "Mira told me six-thirty. Obviously a ploy that would allow her to get a good seat for the show." He added with a nod at there the silver-haired woman smiled sweetly in return.

"Yeah, sorry, you're not late." Levy winced at the reminder that there was not one, but two tables of witnesses to this possibly embarrassing encounter. "I got here early…kind of nervous." Honesty seeming to be the best idea in this kind of situation.

He didn't seemed to take this news poorly. In fact, his posture seemed to relax at her confession. "And you thought to get a few drinks in you before meeting me?" A pale brow lifted as his lips quirked in a crooked grin.

"More like I had to give myself a chance to run away if needed."

His laugh was as soft as his voice. "Understandable. I've been on plenty of bad blind dates to know that you always need an escape plan. First time being set-up?"

"That obvious?"

"Well, it seems unlikely that a girl like you needs her boss to set her up on dates on a regular basis."

"A girl like me?" Feeling self-conscious, Levy ran her palms down her tights. Wondering if she should have gone with something more mature than the strapless polka-dotted sundress she had grabbed from her closet…after changing over a dozen times before hand. It might serve as more of a shirt on some women, going only mid-thigh on Levy. The reason she had settled on it had been because, when paired with her kitten-heeled ankle-boots, Levy almost appeared to be over five-feet.

Oh the wonders of optical illusions.

Fingertips brushed were the strap of her purse was strung across the back of her stool. "I couldn't help but see your copy of Kemu Zaleon's newest novel. Far from light reading to pass the time with."

"You read Kemu Zaleon?"

"He is one of my favorites."

And, with that, the arranged date turned into something far more friendly and easy to manage. Conversation flowing through a wide range of topics that Levy never thought she would be able to have after graduating from college. Lucy loved books as much as Levy did, but didn't enjoy diving into the minute details of the story structure and style. Something that Freed more than enjoyed, going as far as go into dialogue syntax being an insight into characterization.

Food was brought.

Drinks were brought.

Levy laughed more than she had in…she couldn't remember how long, while Freed kept a stoic appearance off-set by the smallest of smiles that remained on his handsome face.

"Dessert?" Loke asked, coming back to the two of them with a fresh round in hand. "Something to share, maybe?" He added with waggled brows that suggested something more going on between the two.

"Um…" Levy looked towards Freed with a shrug, leaving the decision to him.

"Can I get a Guinness sometime this year?" Someone stepped between the two, breaking away the means of silent communication, to lean against the bar and demand Loke's attention.

Causing the scent of metallic masculinity to assault Levy's nose and forcing her mind to forget the last few hours spent in the company of someone far from Gajeel's type of personality. That being someone who she could have a conversation with and not feel suffocated from his presence. A guy she could see herself actually dating…

The one problem with that being that the man standing between them was Gajeel himself, dressed in the same clothing as from the shop and angling his body so Levy was more in his direct line of sight than the peripheral that he was pretending.

When had he arrived?

How much had he seen?

Why was she still thinking what he thought while on a date with someone else?

Why was he still staring at her even after Loke put a frosted bottle of dark beer in front of him?

"May I help you with something?" Fluttering her lashes, alcohol allowed Levy to make her voice overly-innocent.

"Nope." Gajeel made a point to move Levy's glass away from her when she went to take another sip. "Just wanting to know who I have to blow to get a beer around here, the bartender seeming to be more interested in the happenings of your date than doing his fucking job, which seems at the moment to moment to get you fucked."

The words were a slap, making her eyes want to sting and tear-up. Rather than give into the shameful weakness, her hand did some slapping of its own. Striking him across the face, a maneuver he hadn't taught her but left an impressive impression on his cheek, and jumping off her stool to march away. Past the two tables of observers and out the door.

"Hey, wait up." A hand grabbed her wrist, and her other hand went to strike once more—assuming her pursuer to be Gajeel—only to pull-back at the last moment when she realized that the man holding her was Freed.

"Oh." Rubbing the bridge of her nose, trying to stem the tears, Levy kept her head down so he couldn't see her current expression. "Sorry about that. Running out on your date is kind of a night-ruiner isn't it?"

"Like I said before, I've been on plenty of bad blind dates…this doesn't touch my top twenty." He calmly tucked a curled lock of her hair behind an ear and coaxed to her to look at him full-on. "Bad break-up?"

"Not even close." Fingering the hem of her dress, Levy took a deep breath that had a bit of a shudder to it. "Don't take this the wrong way but, he's the reason Mirajane thought to set us up. She thought a nice guy like you would help me get over my bad-boy crush."

"Well, don't take this the wrong way, but Mira tends to be a terrible match-maker."

"Oh…" And that's just want she needed to hear to finish the sudden turn her night took.

"It's not that I didn't enjoy meeting you." Freed quickly added, catching the thought etched on Levy's face. "It's just that she doesn't understand my type."

"Which is?"

"Well, we have more in common than just taste in literature. I too suffer from a bad-boy crush. Though, where yours seems to have a thing for piercings and dark intensity, mine secretly leans more towards blonde powerhouses that enjoys screwing his business partner for a side hobby."

Sorrow momentarily forgotten, Levy's held up a hand to buy time to think. "You know about Mirajane and Laxus?"

"Really? That's your reaction on hearing I'm a closeted gay?"

"Yeah, guess I kind of saw that coming." Scratching the back of her neck, Levy felt a bit foolish on considering him possibly boyfriend territory. "Which makes me think that I should resign myself on being a man's cover wife."

Genuine surprise sharpened some of Freed's classical handsome features. "You seriously offering?"

Well, there were definitely offers she could considered that would be far worse…"Let me think on that. How about you go with cover girlfriend instead." After all, it wasn't like she was going to be spending much time at the gym for the foreseeable future and she needed something to keep her mind off a certain guy.

It might not be romantic, but a good guy really might be just what she needed.

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**[A/N: As usual, please forgive any/all typos.]**

**[Don't know if I am going to do anything with Lucy…am torn between her and Natsu and her and Loke, and there seems to be a standstill between your votes. By the way, thank you all for the comments and alerts and favorites. This wasn't my best chapter, I know, but—as always—wanted to post something for you guys while I had the time…and wanted to put some angst in the story.]**


	17. Intermission 4

**[Disclaimer: I own nothing…This is just for fun!]**

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**Intermission 4:**

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Gajeel wanted to throw-up…or throw a punch. It was hard to say which. During the last two weeks, these sensations had become nearly one and the same in his emotional consideration. Funny how gut-twisting disgust could make a man want nothing more than to break his knuckles while violently striking out on the nearest surface possible.

And if that said surface happened to be the face of a certain pretty boy currently leaning down to kiss Levy's forehead when she went to meet him after her shift's end.

Two weeks.

It had nearly been fourteen days since Levy had spoken to him. The slap, something that hadn't even registered to his pain prospective, had been the last true bit of interaction she had with him. Mirajane, being witness to that occurrence, had made sure of that.

When he came into work the next day, he found that the schedule had been changed. Levy now worked with either Lucy or one of the guys and Gajeel found his time with spent with either Natsu or Gray, depending on who worked the shift before or had off that day…which meant that the amount of work-involved fights had increased significantly over the last half a month.

A lot of their pay checks would be going to the shop to pay for all the stuff they broke during their daily brawls. Seeing that Gajeel couldn't lash out at the true target of his rage, he had to make due with his co-workers.

"They are so going off to have sex." Natsu hopped onto the counter, watching the small woman walk away with her hand interlaced with that of the bastard from the bar.

Gajeel's fist jerked out, colliding with Natsu's cheek and sending the younger man tumbling to the floor.

"What?" Palm pressed to the instant swelling to his face. "Don't you think Levy has been…I don't know…glowing lately? Doesn't that usually mean she's having sex on a regular basis? One of those magazines that Lucy keeps reading talks about how sex is good for the skin." Looking towards their magazine section, filled with varying brands of erotica, Natsu rubbed his cheek for a final time. "We really should start selling those here. I mean, they talk about sex a lot in those. Mostly about how to fake orgasms and—"

"Do me a favor: shut the fuck up before I knock some teeth out." Whipping the door open, with more force than necessary, he slammed it behind him on going back to the stock area. For two weeks, the only gratification he seemed to be able to gain was messing with Levy's carefully tended shelves.

A juvenile act that gave him nearly as much satisfaction as the one-sided sex he had been having of late. His hand being his lone partner for longer than he wanted to admit. Knowing that he could call one of his usual hook-ups did nothing to change his current situation.

This he tried to blame on Rogue's continued appearance at the apartment. Usually, Rogue came in for a day or two between venue stops or at the end of a tour before the demands of his lifestyle dragged him away once more. The downside of being one half of a popular duo.

Thankfully, no one in Gajeel's social circle paid much attention to the music world or he would have deal with the constant assaulted of questions and demands pertaining to his little brother's career. There had been a moment of panic when Lucy, a few days ago, left work while singing the refrain of their newest song under her breath. Gajeel thought the cover of discretion was blown on Rogue deciding to enter the shop at that exact moment…

And then nothing happened beyond Lucy giving a polite smile and small wave on her way to clock-out. Causing Gajeel to realize how amazing it was that people could hum a song, after hearing it on the radio, and have no idea who was responsible for the creation.

It would be a different matter if Rogue and Sting had gone into a life on the big screen rather than a stage.

As it was, Gajeel found it eerily weird enough to see random people periodically walking down the street with _Twin Dragon_ T-shirts. A name Gajeel hated, not only was Sting not Rogue's brother…but he was barely considered a Dragon Kid. The blonde bastard being adopted by wealthy douches scant years after his arrival.

Enough time for him to worm his way into Rogue's mind and…

Gajeel's fist sank into the side of the nearest box, creating an explosion of packing peanuts. The face he imaged in front of it not being that of his brother's best friend and band-mate.

His mind had gone to green hair with a girlie mole under a left eye.

If that was the type of guy Levy went for, why the hell had she been so eager to make-out with him all those times before?

Well, maybe not that willing seeing that, during their three 'romantic' interactions:

1. She had been drunk off her ass.

2. She had no say when he simply grabbed her.

3. She had freaked out and gone into a version of shock that he assumed to be remnant of being felt up by the alley-creeper…but might have been disgust over what she realized she was doing.

Fuck this shit.

When his shift was done, he was going to call one of his usuals to meet him. He needed to get some of his pent-up frustration out of his system before he ended up hurting someone beyond his resilient co-workers who saw hand-to-hand combat as a preferable past-time.

"Hey, metal-ass, you got a call." Laxus stuck his head out the office-break-room door and held the phone out towards Gajeel. Ignoring the mess that he had created, it being on the minor side of his current scale of destruction. "And, by the way, this isn't your personal pay-phone. Please, convey this concept to my grandfather…who is supposed to be retired and have nothing to do with this shop."

Taking the receiver from Laxus, Gajeel rested his back against the wall outside the doorway. The ancient phone cord making Gajeel unable to travel further. "Did you get that, Makarov?"

"_Yeah, my grandson is a pain in the ass. The same might be said about you."_

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"_I just got done talking to Rogue—"_

"Going to strangle him."

"—_who was talking to Juvia—"_

"Going to kick her out of the apartment."

"—_the center of this conversation being how deep you're in over your head."_

"I have the situation under control." The actions of a certain girl being more of a forefront of his mind than his possible entanglements with those of his previous life. Maybe some would call that questionable priorities, he merely considered the predicament with Jose's delusions as nothing to be particularly concerned about.

Levy seeming to be a more pressing matter than the possibility of his former boss's threats.

"_Just like you did three years ago?"_

Gajeel's teeth snapped together at the reminder, grinding with each word uttered. "I did the time we agreed upon. He's the bastard who went back on his word"

"_And that course of action landed you in jail. You should have called me when they made their intentions known."_

"And what, begged you to make it all go away?"

"_Or you could have merely asked a friend for a favor."_

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Gajeel tried to keep his voice was lifting. "Is this why Rogue has been hanging around so long?"

"_You and Juvia aren't the only ones Jose has been harassing. When you didn't respond accordingly, he started on Rogue."_

Fuck.

"And why didn't Rogue tell me this himself?"

"_Pride and…more importantly…he is under the belief that he caused you enough problems. Ten years of servitude in the criminal underworld and all that. The point being that he realized that there is no shame in asking for help. A lesson that you seem to have yet to understand." _

"And how do you propose to handle the situation? I doubt the plan from before will work this time around."

"_Getting you out of town for a bit until I can assess how much you idiot brothers managed to get yourselves into."_

"Yes. Running away with my tail between my legs is a perfect idea. Why didn't I think of it? Oh, yeah, that's right…I have a dick and a backbone."

"_Think of it more like a paid vacation. I'm going to have Laxus and Mira close the shop for a few days, due to the sudden infestation of rodents that somehow managed to mysteriously move into the walls overnight, and send all of you up to the beach house for a few days. Seeing that you can't work in an unsanitary environment, after all."_

"Right, cause that's believable."

"_It's a paid vacation, they will believe whatever I tell them."_

"I don't want to get you involved—"

"_You should have thought of that three years ago. Too late now. So, man up and go to the beach for a few days."_

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**[A/N: As usual, please forgive any/all typoes.]**

**[The problem with the last few chapters is that I know where I want the story to go…but not so much how to get there. Next chapter should be longer and have more Gajeel/Levy. Again, thank-you so much for all the reviews, alerts, and follows. There is so much appreciation there…you have no idea. ^_^]**


	18. Chapter 13

**[Disclaimer: I own nothing…This is just for fun.]**

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**13: Enduring Pain…**

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"Which suit should I bring along?" Lucy, running about the apartment's common place for the last two hours, had been putting on a spontaneous fashion show since they received the call about the up-coming and last-moment trip to the beach.

One that Levy decreed she wasn't going to participate in. Even the promise of paid time to run about in the sun for an unknown amount of time wasn't enough for her to flirt with the idea of being in close quarters with Gajeel for so long a time.

Not after the incident at the bar.

Not after what he said.

Not after what she did.

Praise all that Mirajane changed the schedule or Levy couldn't be completely sure her desire to draw away from Gajeel would have been successful. No amount of closeted-cover-boyfriend activities would have served as enough of a buffer for whatever it was Gajeel did to her. There really being no adequate description for the twisted sensation of emotions she experienced with him.

Something she shouldn't enjoy and crave.

Staying away from him is the best course of action she could think of.

"The white with pink flowers, the teal and yellow, and the red striped." Not looking up, Levy turned another page of the random book she had decided to start on while waiting for Lucy to be picked up by the others going away.

It had a fluffy plotline about a princess who ran away from an unwanted marriage and the assassin sent to bring her back.

Yes, she was a glutton for punishment. She might have been able to distance herself from her bad boy of preference, but she couldn't rid her mind of the morbid draw she recently developed for the topic matter.

She had to get her kicks somewhere.

Dropping her arms from her modeling pose, Lucy placed hands on her hips and stared at Levy with genuine concern. "Are you sure you don't want to come along?"

"Yeah, I'm not in much of a beach mood."

"But you love the ocean."

Levy shrugged, turning another page. "I don't love the idea of last-minute trips I have no time to prepare for. Look at you, running about like an insane person to meet a last minute deadline."

"Not even if it means that you and Freed could frolic in the waves and make s'mores."

Yeah, Levy hadn't enlightened her friend on the personal aspects of her life. Exchanging secrets, allowing Lucy to know and interact with the shop but keeping her in the dark about her sick obsession with Gajeel and the lengths she was willing to take to eradicate him from her mind.

Also, Freed's secret wasn't hers to tell.

"I didn't think we were allowed to bring outsiders along. You know, a company trip."

"Erza's bringing her boyfriend."

"You knew she had a boyfriend?" Two weeks later, and this news was still baffling for Levy to process.

"I thought everyone did. He seems really nice, though he's been to jail—"

"What?"

A beep sounding outside put an end to that conversation with a startled squeak from Lucy on her way back to her room. "Tell them that I need like five more minutes. And use that time to change your mind and throw a duffle together."

"Take your time, looks like they have a UHAUL out there, and—yeah—Erza's boyfriend is driving it. He really does have a facial tattoo…is that from pre or post-incarceration?" Pressing her forehead against the window, Levy gave a wave to the people below. All a part of the caravan of cars lining down the street in front of Levy's building.

Eyes instantly found their way to where Gajeel rested on his motorcycle. Shades on, helmet off, and a reminder that she could swing on the back behind him and have an excuse to cling to him as they raced down the road…

Yeah, definitely a good call on not going.

Way too much temptation there.

An unwillingly smile stretched across her face on Natsu and Gray getting out of the car they had, for some reason, decided to share. The pink-haired man, already in beach gear, jumped about with his arms waving in need to gain attention, while his counterpart, shirtless and in either trunks or his boxers, leaned against a hood where Gajeel's blue-haired roommate instantly slinked to his side.

Alright, clearly this wasn't strictly for shop employees.

And, with Juvia there to hang about Gray and perceive any woman who came within five feet of him as a rival in love, Levy's fortitude of not joining in was once again strengthened with iron resolve.

This did not spell out fun by any degree.

It seemed more like a perfect storm of disaster than a relaxing vacation.

Opening the window, Levy stuck her head outside and made a point to look at Natsu and Gray and nowhere else. "Lucy says she needs five more minutes."

"Fine, we'll take care of you first." Gray, seeming to be obvious to Juvia's adoration, cocked his head towards where Levy partially hung above him. "Bring your stuff down...or do you pack like Erza and need us to lend a hand?"

"Actually, I'm not going."

"What!?" Natsu started marching towards the door. "Buzz me up, I'll pack for you."

"And that doesn't sound like a terrible idea." Shaking her head, Levy settled on the windowsill. "Sorry, just don't feel like going to the beach."

"You know it's a _paid_ trip, right?" Gray shot back.

"Leave off, if the girl doesn't want to go on this waste of money, she doesn't have to." Laxus drawled from the driver seat of the sports car she was trying to figure how he could possibly fold his massive frame inside. "In fact, all of you should feel free to follow her example."

A lively debate ensured. Everyone on the street beneath her window felt the need to place their input on how Levy should spend this sudden bout of free time. Even those she hardly knew, like Erza, and those she never met, like Erza's nameless boyfriend, put in an opinion on the matter.

Lucy adding to the conversation amongst her frantic packing. Periodically sticking out her bedroom window to converse with the others.

The only one to remain silent was Gajeel, who Levy refused to look towards after the first glimpse. Not wanting him to unconsciously sway her on the matter. She had made up her mind and no amount of debate of those she called her friends nor how much the Id of her mind wanted to think about Gajeel shirtless on the sand.

"Enough of this useless bullshit, you're coming along."

The voice came from inside the apartment, causing Levy to squeak and nearly fall off her perch if a strong arm didn't wrap about her waist to steady her in place. Then came the familiar scent of metallic masculinity.

Damn it.

"How did you get in?"

"The fire escape off your bedroom. Well, I assume that it's your bedroom. There's a hell of a lot of books in there and a closet full of doll clothes."

"You were in my room…you went through my closet?" Levy's voice squeaked once more as she twisted about to get free of his arms. This being the first time they had been in close proximity and actually exchanged words in weeks. Far more awkward than she had thought possible.

A sentiment Levy wasn't alone in thinking. "Um…What's happening?" Lucy stood in her room's doorway, watching Gajeel continued to cage her roommate into his captive embrace.

"Nothing much bunny girl, just going to help Pip do some quick packing. Go down with the others, tell them we'll just catch up when we're done here."

Lucy did not seemed convinced. Craning her neck, she made eye-contact with the tiny girl being dwarfed by the man before her. "Levy?"

"Yeah, Lucy, it's fine." Clearing her throat, Levy tried to scrounge up a reassuring smile. "I'll see you when you get back."

"You'll see her once you get packed and join her and the others at the beach house." Gajeel had yet to break eye contact with her, sunglasses being pushed to the top of his head. Tangled in his mane of tussled hair. Not even when the door closed with Lucy's uncertain exit.

"Why does it mean so much to you if I go or not. I mean, I understand the others," they still liked her, "but why does it mean so much to you?"

"Because, for one thing, everyone is going to hate me if I'm the one who prevented you from having fun with the rest of them. In fact, pretty sure they would prefer we switch places than miss out on witnessing the phenomenon that is drunk Levy."

Closing her eyes, Levy suddenly felt exhausted. Sleep seeming like an ideal solution to all her current problems. Not that thinking of bed so close to the course of all her headaches was the most brilliant of ideas. "Gajeel—"

"I'm sorry, alright." Unlike the moment of honesty in the truck, this time Gajeel didn't make Levy look away as he spoke. His gaze didn't waver from hers, dipping when she tried to look away. "It wasn't my place to get involved and say what I did. I keep forgetting that you're not the Salamander or the Stripper. Things I can say to them—that they would laugh off, by the way—seems to hurt you."

Not knowing how to response, Levy kept her silence.

Gajeel held onto his as well, waiting for her to accept or deny his apology.

She bit her lip, hating herself for being weak enough to put his as her primary focus. Remembering how it felt to kiss him, directly after he basically called her one of the boys. He thought he could say the same things to her as he did with Natsu and Gray, that once more confirmed his zero interest in her in the romantic sense…

Except, his arms had yet to move away from her.

And he still had yet to turn his attention from her face. "Please, Pip, don't make me have to apologize again." An uncertain smile lifted his lips, absently brushing a stray lock of her hair from her face and back behind an ear. The ribbon she was wearing had slipped during her struggle to gain freedom from him. Something she had ceased fighting before knowing she had done so. "It hurt too much the first time." He took her hand and pressed it to his chest to illustrate the phantom pain she was causing him to suffer and endure.

Her face twitched, either from the desire to cry or smile. It was hard to say which emotion would win the inner tug-of-war for dominance her psyche was suffering from at the moment.

Tears seemed to be the ones that wanted to be the champion.

"Levy, I just got a text from Lucy that only said '911.' Not entirely sure what that means, seeing that we never worked out any form of code system, and I would never go for something so blatant, but I thought it would be wise to come over and see if everything was alright." Freed, speaking on his way through the door, stopped at the center of the living room when he looked up from his phone to see the situation his 'girlfriend' was in.

Shaking her hand free from his hold, Levy stood. Sliding away from the window, that now looked down onto an empty street—the conversation with Gajeel had been enough to deafen Levy to Lucy and the others' departure, which wouldn't have been silent, Levy smoothed her hands down she skirt. Even though Freed knew where Levy stood on all things, the two of them spending significant time discussing their failed loved lives. That might make this entire situation all the more humiliating, seeing that he knew how pathetic her plight was…and witnessing how powerless she was around Gajeel.

"Yeah…turns out the shop is going to the beach, starting to sound like a mandatory thing, and we're allowed to bring people with. Lucy thought it would be fun if you joined us, and I told her that you were probably busy with—"

"Sure, sounds fun, I have a few days of vacation to take." Blue eyes flicked towards where Gajeel remained on the window ledge. "How about you pack a quick bag before we swing by my place and get a few things?"

"Or, how about this, you could go to your place now and I could drive Levy to the house?" Standing, Gajeel took a stance behind Levy. Taking no further moves to touch her. "Take your time to pack-up your pocket protector and abacus and meet up with us when you're ready."

"Yeah, no." Stepping forward, Freed took Levy's hand in his to tug her to his side. Creating a gap between her and Gajeel. "I think it would be best if my girlfriend and I traveled together. My Porsche is probably a good deal more comfortable than the back of your bike."

Gajeel's teeth snapped in response before exiting out the still-open apartment door.

Yeah, this was going to be such a grand vacation.

Why had she allowed herself to agree?

Why was she still hyper aware of the warmth slowly seeping from her hand?

* * *

**[A/N: As usual, please forgive any/all typos.]**

**[I originally was going to skip straight to the beach, but didn't like anything I wrote. Thought a little Segway was needed. Next time: sun and sand and Gajeel in swim trunks.]**


	19. Chapter 14

**[Disclaimer: I own nothing…This is just for fun!]**

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**14: Matters of the Heart...**

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"Last to show cooks and cleans." Gray, lounging at the island counter and proving that he was in boxers and not the more appropriate trunks with Juvia sitting as close to him as their stools allowed, called out hours later when Levy and Freed entered the beach house's kitchen, bags in hand and ready to fake cheer for the unforeseeable future.

How long did it take to fumigate one small store?

Was the uncertain time line due to the content within?

Do vermin like to linger in porn shops more so than quaint tea cafes, qualifying for several rounds of chemical bombing?

"Don't listen to him." Erza commented on entering, arms full of cook books and wearing a chef's hat and apron. "Jellal and I are making dinner for all of you. How about you two go find a room and get settled?"

"_A _room?" Gajeel stepped in through the arch that separated the kitchen area from that of the dining. Hair held back with a bandana resting on his brow; where Gray was in his undergarments, Gajeel had changed into appropriate clothing befitting their location.

Black swim trunks resting low on defined hipbones.

No shirt displaying sculpted torso and toned muscles that made the physique of Gray look to be lacking in the gym department.

Why was it that all the guys working at the shop seemed to want nothing more than to model…Or, at least, be the epitome of what all male models wanted to be?

Case in point, Natsu came bouncing into sight in a style similar to what Gajeel was wearing. They two of them were probably on their way down to either the beach itself or, remaining closer to the house, the back patio's pool. Really, this house more of a mansion than anything. That said pool not only had an accompanying hot tub, but also a cabana that Levy was certain was close to the size of her room.

How much did they make each year at the shop to be able to afford this?

Proving the idea that sex sells.

"Of course they need a room, where else would they sleep?" Smiling, Natsu opened the fridge and started chugging down orange juice straight from the container.

"There are plenty of rooms, they don't have to share."

Natsu lifted a pale brow, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand. "How else would they have sex?"

Shock caused Levy, not even eating or drinking anything, to nearly choke on the very air.

Lucy, choosing that moment to enter in a bikini that gave Levy a fresh wave of body complexes, broke into a coughing fit. Face turning nearly as bright as Levy knew hers to be.

"On that note, I think we should get to unpacking." Taking Levy's suitcase, full of the final contestants she couldn't narrow down further, Freed left the significantly smaller duffle of clothes for Levy to carry while he also shouldered his military issued rucksack.

"After you're down there, join us at the pool." Lucy, recovering from her gasp for air, seemed to want nothing more than to clap her hands in glee over the situation. Either from merely being paid to have fun for an indiscernible amount of days or from thinking that Levy and Freed were developing into a stable couple. "Okay?"

"That's if they aren't busy doing other matters." Gray calmly teased, dark eyes flicking towards where Gajeel barred Freed and Levy's way, before grabbing an apple from the bowl sitting at the center of the marble surface.

Juvia followed his action, seeming to think that mimicking his movements would bring them closer together.

The pierced man didn't seem to notice that he was blocking the two's means of exit, bending down so he made the target of his attention known while completely ignoring Freed. "Pip, there are plenty of rooms. If you haven't noticed, this place is a fucking modern-day castle" He stressed, knuckles turning white where they pressed against the archway.

"You wanted me to go along so the others wouldn't be mad at you. I'm here." Her voice was stronger than she thought possible. Knowing that she wasn't one to be assertive or confrontational. "Don't think that means you can boss me around. I just don't want to be responsible for a break in the peace."

"Levy—"

"Would you mind moving?" Freed's tone was pleasant enough; his eyes being a different matter. "And I don't think Levy appreciates the break in her personal space."

There was a heavy moment of the two staring one another down, broken by a newcomer walking between the tense atmosphere.

"Excuse me." His voice was mellow restraint, not really giving Gajeel nor Freed much attention on his way into the kitchen to join where Erza was constructing what appeared to be a fort of pots and pans…

What exactly was she going to make?

And, more importantly, how did a woman like Erza, straight-laced—even for someone working at a porn shop—and fiercely independent and strong—end up with a guy who apparently went to jail and really did sport a facial tattoo?

A tattoo kept a painfully beautiful face from blinding all who looked upon it.

Freed used this interruption to herd Levy out into the dining room and though the formal living room beyond that also served as an open foyer that hosted a grand stairway that led to floors above. The house was truly beautiful in both architecture and the elegance of its interior design.

Wasted on both Levy and Freed on discovering that they were the pair with the world's worse timing.

At the upper balcony, looking down to the space beneath, stood Laxus and Mirajane. They had also dressed for the beach, or partially. Seeing that Mirajane's string top was untied at the neck, the cups hanging about her waist with Laxus's hands barely able to contain her breasts.

Barely a glance, but it was enough for them to instantly back pedal towards the dining room.

"How about we take the servant's stair?" Freed's voice, a low whisper, danced along Levy's neck.

"There's a servant stair?" Surprise darting Levy's eyes from the train wreck of a sight, she stared up at Freed with undisclosed interest. "They have servants?"

"Yes for the stair, no for the servants. The house came with it." Nodding in head back into the dining room and through another arch that went into a library that made Levy's suitcase of literature seem superfluous, he led her through a few more side rooms and up a staircase less impressing than the one Laxus and Mirajane were occupying.

"I am so sorry about this." Even out of sight and earshot, Levy kept her voice low. As if she had to hide her words from the walls themselves. "I had all intention of staying home while the rest went…and then he showed up and…we don't have to stay. We can go back downstairs and tell them that we decided to bail. Make them think we want to have freaky sex or something without an auditory audience." Seeing that her reputation was already destroyed.

A hand claimed hers from where it tapped an erratic beat on her thigh, giving it a friendly squeeze to coax Levy into lifting her eyes and meeting Freed's signature soft smile. It was a shame that he probably, and definitely without premeditated intent, broke the hearts of so many girls by flashing that look. "It's alright, Levy. Laxus and I have been friends for years; this won't be the first time that I have to endure the sight of him trying to be discreet, or not so discreet, with Mirajane. There was this one time in college when we all went skiing—"

"I can't stress just how much I don't need to hear this."

"Fair enough." Shifting how the straps of his rucksack rested on his shoulder, Freed opened a door at random down a long corridor the servant stair landed from with the edge of Levy' suitcase. There was an empty bedroom beyond. No sigh of anyone having yet claimed apparent about the space. "The point being that I know what my heart can take…and how to distract myself from any possible pain. So don't worry if I don't return to our room at night. They don't have house servants, but there is the gardening and pool crew to consider…along with all those working at the beach and the bartenders at several of the local pubs."

Dropping her duffle, Levy flopped onto the bed and tried to clear her head from the thoughts that wanted to assault her. Barely there for five minutes and she already realized that this definitely hadn't been a good idea. Not that she was going to complain to Freed. Despite what he said, she knew he had to be in plenty of pain himself.

So, she tried to lighten the mood however she was able. "Dirty."

"I'm more worried about you."

"What about me?"

"When you said that you suffered from a bad boy complex, I didn't realize that it was to such a severe degree."

"Again, what?"

"If I hadn't stepped in, you would have ended up once again in his arms with the threat of nudity." Opening his bag, Freed started moving pristinely folded clothing into one of the dressers. "Which brings me to ask if you're sure you want to buffer him?"

"I did major in literature, so I have a vast vocabulary, and yet all I can say is, once again, what are you talking about?"

"Are you sure that you want to keep him at bay?"

"I'm not keeping him at bay, he's the one who did it that. I'm just focused on self-preservation."

"Fine. Let me rephrase, are you sure that he wants to keep you at arm's length? From where I was standing, the man displaying clear signs of jealousy."

Quelling down the bubble of hope that wanted to carbonate her stomach about, Levy sat up and pulled her duffle—that Freed had dropped at the bed's foot—towards her. Unzipping the length, she rooted aimlessly about. "I'm not sure about anything that goes through Gajeel's mind. Don't think I want to know."

A lie that Freed had a good graces not to comment on.

"And, I think, I'm going to join Lu-chan and the others at the pool."

"By 'others' you mean Gajeel."

"He has nothing to do with this."

"He has everything to do with this, and—going to give some advice here—it might be wise to consider actually talking to him about all this. Can't help but think you're both seriously missing something."

"Like what?"

"Like why his eyes follow you whenever you are near and looks at me with a murderous intent I only ever witnessed in combat. Or how, as I mention before, you happen to be unable to fall into his arms when he's within reach. It's nothing to be ashamed of or defensive about." Freed added when Levy went to comment. "And I might be mistaken, and will continue aiding in our self-assisted cover, but I'm just saying that, unlike my situation, yours might not be as hopeless as you originally assume. Maybe you should try to talk with him…just make sure that there is significant space between the two of you when such happens."

Pulling out the one swim suit she had packed, not having the need to invest in several options like Lucy and Mirajane did, Levy went into the room's adjourning bathroom to change. Freed might not be interested in what Levy had to offer, that didn't mean she was willing to bare it all before him.

Both physically and emotionally.

After all, it wasn't like she could just go up to Gajeel and say, _"Hey. So you know the boyfriend I have? Well, it's a lie. A convenient cover to hide that he is a gay and I can't get you off my mind…or out of my suddenly very racy dreams. Mentioning such, what do you think about me and my possible feelings for you?"_

Wait…

What?

Where had that thought come from?

There was a big difference between having sexy thoughts about a man and having legitimate feelings for him. There being a thick, caging line between lust and love. And there was no conceivable means for Levy to feel the latter towards a man she barely knew and didn't come close to understanding…

Could she?

* * *

Despite that potentially troubling and awkward thought reverberating through her mind, Levy was able to put on a reasonably believable display of light-hearted merriment as she and the others played about the pool until dinner was ready, reserving the beach for the following day when they could pack a meal and make a day event of the location. Not that they didn't enjoy the sight of the sand and waves from the deck's table where they dug into Erza's homemade meal.

Which was both delicious and…interesting…all at the same time. Who knew that meat could get that charred on the outside and yet remain juicy and flavorful within?

Sunset beginning to stretch across the primed wood when dirty dishes found stacked at the center of the table for Jellal to cart away. Him being nothing that Levy expected. Turns out that his incarceration, a topic they didn't go into detail, had something to do with a travesty of his and Erza's shared childhood. Along with that, he was a highly read and artistically articulate man who was on par with the rest of the assembled men on in regards to looking fantastic whilst sans shirt.

"So, what are our plans for tonight?" Mirajane inquired, not holding any appearance for allowing her sex-partner to cause her to behave like an exhibitionist. One caring that they may get caught while the other desperately covered their tracks.

"Gray-sama talked about exploring town with me." Juvia gushed, possibly perceiving casual comments Gray made to the group as a whole for private invitations for romantic dates. Levy hated to be the one to tell her that it was intended as a group gathering rather than an intimate meeting of two.

"Yeah." Lucy nodded her head in agreement, not having been familiar enough with the shop's inner workings to know the possible threat her words might hold, and ignoring Levy's subtle attempts at stemming Lucy's train of thought. "There is a club we thought would be fun to check out. Interested?"

"I think I'm going to pass for tonight." Levy, unable to sit and do nothing, started helping clear off the table. Gathering remnants of the meal and keeping her head down. Like the others, she was still wearing her swimsuit—an orange bikini that probably looked appropriate for the twelve-year-old Laxus thought she was—and felt naked in such when walking about certain members of the gathered. She could only keep her mind off troubling revelations when he wasn't near or in her line of sight. "Kind of tired, thought I would call it early with a book."

"I'm going to stay too." Fredd put in, making it seem to be an act of a good boyfriend when Levy suspected it had more to do with the lifeguard working at the tower in clear view. Levy had caught them making eyes at each other during most of the afternoon.

Freed not wasting time in finding a needed distraction.

"Yeah, I'm sure a lot of reading is going to get done." Laxus said with a sarcastic chuckle.

Freed ducked his head.

Gajeel glared.

Levy went inside to fight with the dishwasher, passing Jellal on his way back outside with a fresh bottle of wine in hand.

A situation she preferred, seeing that she had the kitchen to herself and needed moments to re-grasp her composure. A course of action robbed from her the next moment, when Gajeel came in to stand behind her. Watching as she bent down to work on the domestic jigsaw puzzle.

"Pip."

Hitting her head off the bottom rack, making silver wear jingle about, Levy closed her eyes and cursed the universe before standing to face him like the grown-up she was trying to convince herself that she was. "What can I help you with?"

Hands went on her hips, hooking into the waistband of her bikini's shorts, and pulled her close. The thought of resisting never entering her mind until she was against his chest. "I don't like this."

"Then let go of me."

"You with him," Gajeel clarified.

"That's nice, now let go of me."

Lips brushed along her shoulder, up the slope of her neck and making her breathing momentarily hitch as he placed her on top of the counter with as much effort as he would with a plate. "Do you really want me to?"

Truth: no. She wanted him to continue just what he was. Possibly somewhere more private, where no one could walk in on them or see them through the French doors the counter was dangerously close to. Gajeel kept one arm about her waist, standing between her legs, and grabbed the edge of the glassed cabinet with the other. Leverage to move against her as his mouth found hers.

God, whoever taught this boy to kiss deserved a medal.

"God," he mirrored her inner thought, "I want you."

Which brought another, less savory, truth to light.

Hands on his shoulders, she eased him away. Searching his expression beyond the glaze of lust. "Do you really want me or is it only because you think you can't have me?"

His inability to answer straight away was confirmation enough.

Shoving him back, him moving more from confusion than force, Levy dropped from the counter and went to her room.

Trying not to break into a run each step of the way.

Feeling her heart manage to both hammer against her ribs and break in near unison. Obviously, that answered her earlier question. And brought along a further slew of problems.

* * *

**[A/N: As usual, please forgive any/all typos.]**

**[My internet is hating fanfiction site…so don't know when the next update will be. Let's hope the issue is fixed quick so I can stop stealing friends' computers for such acts.]**

**[Also, kind of have the end of this story planned out...almost...but I was struck with an idea that wouldn't really work at all within this narration and wanted to know if you guys would be interested in reading a mini-sequel when I am done with this story.]**


	20. Chapter 15

**[Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me…This is just for fun!]**

**[My internet is working again, this calls for a celebration! Also, this is one of the chapters I was looking forward to writing…hopefully, I don't disappoint.]**

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**15: Coming Clean…**

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"Are you sure you don't want to go out and do something?" Freed sat at the bottom of the bed, watching Levy start her second book since locking herself away in the room. It was amazing how a speed reader in emotional distress could get a considerable amount of material covered in a handful of hours. "I know clubbing isn't really your thing—"

"Thanks, but no thank-you." She glanced over the pages and gave him a politely dismissing nod. "And I know that you're dying to hook-up with Mr. Studly Lifeguard, don't let me keep you."

"You're my friend."

"I know and, as a friend, I'm telling you to have fun. I'm more than content here." When she said no more on the matter, and ignored his advances to strike up conversation again, Freed finally relented and did as told. Making her feel a degree better about the situation, at least she wasn't ruining his night as well.

Though, she now found herself ripped free of her zone of literary concentration and now found it impossible to return. All the words were beginning to bleed together and all her mind could conjure was the moment in the kitchen.

How many times was she going to allow Gajeel to make a fool of her?

When had this school-girl fascination turn into love?

Why was she even considering the fact that she loved Gajeel?

Wasn't there some kind of pill she could take to empty her of all these unwanted emotions?

Getting out of bed, she padded to the bathroom and changed into her the still wet suit from earlier that she had hung on the tub to dry for the morning's trip to the beach. Maybe she should have packed an extra one, because this was all kinds of uncomfortable.

A bearable kind that was wiped clear with her diving into the pool's deep end, beginning endless laps. The physical exertion enough to empty her mind of unwanted thoughts beyond the hope that she turned in time to miss hitting her head off the wall.

Lucy and the others wouldn't be back from the club for hours, this being a vacation and something that shouldn't be squandered like she was currently doing, and Freed was, hopefully, working out his Laxus issues with a lifeguard that had abs she could iron off of.

How far she had gone since first entering the store that she was perfectly alright in considering two men hooking up for raw sex being completely legit. Not that she had issue with the concept before, just now able to contemplate the physical aspects of such arrangements without being overcome with embarrassment.

She hoped Freed was having fun.

He deserved it.

Stomach rumbling from exertion of swimming over the length of a mile, Levy stopped mid-stroke and allowed herself to float about the center of the pool. Watching wisps of clouds to float across the stars speckling the sky. She could smell rain coming.

She should go back inside, take a hot shower, and try once more to read.

"Pip."

A started gasped squeaked out of her as limbs flayed about to right herself in the water to bob with the still current while locating where Gajeel sat at the edge. Feet in the water and watching her with an expression impossible to discern with shadows blanketing his face.

"How long were you there?" Her voice snapped as her legs treaded water and she pushed drenched bangs off her face.

"Long enough to know that you need to work on your free crawl."

"Works well enough for me. Don't plan on winning any awards here." She used ducking under the water's surface to buy seconds to work on her expression, breaking the surface a few feet further back from where he had stationed himself. "Why are you here? Thought you went off with the others for a night on the town." Or, at least, that was what she assumed. Not having seen him since after leaving him in the kitchen, she thought he would go out and find himself some warm, willing body to work off some frustration.

Maybe he already had. It had been hours between then and now.

"Went for a walk." Stripping off the hoodie he wore, he slipped into the shallows. The water level not even covering the waistband of the trunks he still wore. "Figured that I had some thinking to do. You know, about your question from earlier." He made no move to get close to her, that didn't stop Levy from retreating a few more strokes.

"What about it?"

Eyes flicked down, watching the ripples he created in the smooth surface. "I think I'm a bit of an ass."

That got an uncertain laugh to burst from her.

"I tend to act on impulse, never thinking things through. Someone, Rogue when he was taking some kind of head shrinking course, once explained it to me in terms of me Egos being unable to control my Oz—"

"Your Id's left unchecked?"

"Whatever. The point is: I do what I want to do when I want to do it. Kind of impressed that I managed to last this long without punching pretty boy every time he touched you…or whenever I thought about him touching you…though, Natsu and Gray did bear a great deal of that particular brand of my limited restraint."

"Does this have a point?"

"Yeah." Droplets dripping from his fingertips, it seemed to require a great deal of strength to look away from that sight and towards where Levy rested with her arm at the pool edge in the corner she had found herself oh so bravely taking refuge in. "Thought it would be easier to talk if I wasn't screaming the words towards you."

"I like where we are."

"Fine—"

Voices cut him off, approaching the pool.

"Are you sure that your roommates won't mind?"

"They are all either out in town or vegging inside." This second voice belonged to Freed.

Damn it. This was going to ruin his plans if he led his date to a pool already full of people.

Gajeel cocked his head to try to catch a glimpse, not sure what was occurring. And something she would wish for him not to discover. Waving towards him, indicating him to follow her example, Levy pulled herself out of the pool's embrace and crouch-walked towards the closest means of cover: the Cabana, which—once inside the curtained expanse—she realized was more of a giant bed than living space for casual get-togethers.

Too late to turn back now, her actions gained Gajeel's notice. He followed her in, giving her a questioning look before she grudgingly nodded him towards the interior for them to hide. Hating that he had to help her up and, worse, that she enjoyed the feel of his hands around her waist.

This was a bad idea.

A very bad idea.

But Freed…

She pulled the curtains shut in time for the two men's arrival, feeling the cushion sink beside her where Gajeel moved in close to watch what was unfolding beyond the slight crack left in the dark, silken barrier. Freed and the lifeguard crested the stairs that separated the patio from the beach beneath. The hair of both was tussled and dusted with sand and there was laughter about their appearance, in both their eyes and lips…which they kept making breaks in their stride to lock together and wind their arms about each other.

"What the—"

"Sh!"

Gajeel looked down at Levy, whispering to the best of his grating ability. "Did you know?" She didn't have to answer for him to know the truth. "Fuck it Pip, why did you let me think that you two—"

"Sh!"

"It's hardly like they are able to hear us over…that." Gajeel tipped his head towards the sounds of water splashing and low chuckles. "And I can't watch this." Closing the curtain completely, he rested back closer to the cabana's center.

Levy remained where she was, staring at the closed curtain with her hands in her lap. This not being at all how she wanted to spend the night, trapped with Gajeel while her fake boyfriend had pool sex with a lifeguard.

What was it with Levy and continuously finding the when and where of people hooking up while she, herself, remained chaste? Seemed like a cosmic joke and the universe trying to turn her into some kind of closet pervert that got-off by watching by never participating.

Not that she wanted to participate…

Why was life so confusing?

Burying her face in her hands, she fought off the desire to either burst into tears or laugh from hysterics.

"No."

"Excuse me?" Lifting her head, she twisted about her torso to meet his dark silhouette.

"Back to your earlier question. No, I don't want you just because—until a few seconds ago—I think I can't have you. Been fighting down a lot over the last few weeks." Cupping her chin, he somehow managed to pull her closer without her being aware of the actions of his other hand. "Need to be close to keep our voices down," he explained before continuing with his original train of thought. "You know that you have these 'no-no' eyes. Every time I thought about acting on my desires, or the few times that I couldn't hold back, I was met with the sight of your innocent eyes disapproving of my lude thoughts." Thumb went from her chin to her lower lip. "So, I thought it best to give you some space to work out whatever it was that you needed…and the next thing I knew, you were dating what I thought was a random book-nerd. Doing things with him that you didn't seem willing with me, and leading me to believe that I misread you. That your type ran stuffy and your reluctance had more to do with lack of interest in me."

Blinking, Levy spout out the first question that came to mind. "Then how do you explain the small fact that I let you kiss me?"

"Didn't think I gave you much of an option." Thumb at her lip slowly stroked along the length. "Why did you let me think you were dating him?"

"Thought that, seeing you were pulling away, I should try to make some kind of emotional buffer. Also, didn't think you cared enough to mind."

"I didn't care enough?" She could barely see his face to know if he wore a growl or a grin. "Pip, do you know how insane I've been for the last two weeks? That kiss in the kitchen. It was either kiss you or take Freed down to the pool and drown him."

"That is either romantic…or creepy."

"Creepy does sound more like me, don't think I'm capable of romantic."

And yet why was this, hiding in a cabana so two gay men having fun wouldn't be aware of their presence, the most romantic moment she could remember ever experiencing in her limited experience in such affairs. Before this moment, it was getting a daisy when she was five from a boy with a wild head of ginger curls.

"I'm going to kiss you now, bad timing and terrible location aside. If you don't want me to, tell me now or make me feel like more of a jackass than I already am." Levy said nothing opposing to the plan, just allowed it to happen. As usual.

There was still desire, but-this time—there was also restraint.

A sweetness to his touch that had been absent before in his actions.

The only part of her touched was her face and neck, making no move from the times before to grab at the more obvious, if limited in size, parts of her anatomy.

When he parted her lips, it wasn't in dominance but gentle exploration.

And when her body's urges got the better of her, demanding more than her mind was prepared, he was the one to ease away. Brushing his lips along her hairline before stretching out her body to rest beside his.

"I think that we're going to be stuck here for a bit. Best if you sleep for now."

Sleep? He wanted her to sleep after kissing her like that?

Clearing her throat, she tucked her head under his chin. Pressed against his sternum. "I heard that one before."

"Sleep. It's not like I am going anywhere, and we have an early morning at the beach to look forward to come sun-up. All night out or not, Erza is annoyingly punctual for someone on vacation. Don't be surprised if she has typed out a schedule for us to follow come breakfast."

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**[A/N: As usual, please forgive any/all typos.]**

**[Tonight was a rarity, please NEVER expect another double feature from me again. My brain wouldn't quite until I finally cleared things up between Levy and Gajeel and now I am going to sleep. It is going to be a long day at work tomorrow.]**


	21. Chapter 16

**[Disclaimer: I own nothing…This is just for fun!]**

**[A/N: So, just realized that I have over 300 reviews and nearly as many followers of this story…So, wow. You all are awesome and I hope you continue to enjoy!]**

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**16: In Morning Light Interruptions…**

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To say that it took Levy a moment to adjust to her surroundings on waking would be an understatement.

First came the realization where she was, on a cabana bed of an elegant beach house with pale sunlight of early morning dawn shining through the thin weave of the drawn curtains.

Second was coming to terms with assessing her body, clad in only a bikini from the night before and shivering from the morning chill clinging to the air, an invisible dew.

Then, finally, came the confirmation that she was not alone. Arms wrapped about her, holding her close to a hard expanse of rigid muscle. Her face tucked under a chin, pressing her nose at the crock of the man holding hers neck. Hands the only restless thing about the stillness of the morning. One tangled at the hair near the base of her neck while its counterpart seemed to enjoy the act of cupping her ass.

And it wasn't the only aspect that enjoyed her closeness, judging by the bulging presence pressing against her stomach.

Opening her eyes confirmed what Levy had suspected to be part of her usual dreams. She had spent the night in Gajeel's arms and, now, he was kissing her. Nuzzling her to return the gesture, allowing him to deepen the act, and not caring about the threat of morning breath.

Something that didn't concern her either. The forefront of her concern was getting closer, twining fingers through his hair and rolling onto her back so he held himself above her.

Maybe this was a dream after all.

It felt far too much like ones she had suffered from before, only…more intense.

Slipping a hand about her knee, Gajeel hooked her leg about his hip. Creating a better angle for him to rest his body.

Her nails dug into the muscles of his shoulders, trying to get him as close as possible. Not caring what the act did to her reputation. Sick of the endless tension and emotional ups and downs that had wrecked her life for the past weeks.

She needed a release from the pain.

She deserved a relief from the angsty drama.

A thought Gajeel seemed to share, hand at her neck making quick work of the knot of her haltered top…the hesitance from the night before was a plan forgotten. An act that might have given her pause hours before but now caused her shivering to turn to delight and her hands to travel down the toned expanse of his back to toy with the waist band of his trunks. Groaning when he shifted out of her reach to he dipped his head down to take in the swell of a breast into his mouth.

Piercings of her chin making her skin more sensitive than usual, letting a gasp to escape before her teeth bit down onto her lower lip. Caging such reactions inside.

"Don't fight it. Those sounds you make have to be the fucking hottest things I've ever heard." Propping himself onto his elbows, Gajeel claimed her lips once more before falling back on his knees and hooked his fingers under her bikini shorts. Preparing to yank them down.

"Wait." Sitting up, holding her suit's top against her chest with one hand, Levy held out the other to buy a moment. "I…I…That is…I don't…"

Cutting her off with a kiss, he coaxed her shielding hand down to her side and pulled her onto his lap. "I know. Kind of obvious."

Face flaming, her back arched without her conscious accord as he undid the remaining knot keeping the top about her. "I was going to say that I don't have the best body." Mortified that her voice was panting.

"Stop fishing for compliments." The chuckle held seductive darkness while teeth nipped at her clavicle. "As for the matter I was going to address, figured I could ease you into it."

"What do you mean?"

"You work in a porn shop, don't act like you don't know there is a hell of a lot more a couple can do in bed than just strict intercourse."

Couple?

The word was enough to daze Levy into momentarily being unaware of Gajeel turning her about. Back pressed to his chest, like that night in the truck…though, unlike that night, there was nothing platonic in how he cupped a breast in hand, thumb rubbing along the nipple until it stood at a frustratingly painful point. Drawing out a carnal purr from the back of her throat that hitched when the fingers of Gajeel's other hand edged under the band of her shorts and slid between her legs, which willingly parted at the first sign of his desired target.

"Fuck, Pip, you feel so good." There was a breathless grunt in his tone as he slowly parted her slick folds and started to caress her body to tormenting extents. Each stroke and exploring thrust caused Levy's heart to pound, missing a few beats while speeding up others. Robbing her lungs of air with the building tension.

Demanding something she couldn't name.

"I can't…" Reaching behind her, she gripped the back of his neck with closed eyes and a desperate plea that she wasn't entirely sure what she was addressing. "God…Gajeel…I can't…"

"Breathe." He advised, the erection he had sported since waking now throbbing against the small of her back. "Just breathe and let go."

"I'm going to fall," was the closest she got to articulating the spiraling sensation she was experiencing. A sense of vertigo that made her think she was in danger of falling off an invisible ledge.

Lips at her ear, the hand at her breasts lazily traced the underside of one as his fingers continued their steady seduction below. "It's alright, I'll be here to catch you when you fall."

Crying out, unable to muffle the sensual sound, Levy did as he said. Allowed her body to unlock in release, flooding her with a euphoria that rushed through her conscious. Wanting nothing more than to obtain more of the sensation, her legs wound about Gajeel's waist when he turned her to face him once again. Grinding against the thin of his barrier trunks, her shorts having been discarded sometime during his earlier administrations.

Tongue licking between her heaving breasts, Gajeel laid her back down. Aiding her feet's desire to rid him of the offensive swim attire.

"Please," her voice pleaded, feeling the suggestion of his head brush her entrance. She didn't want to wait anymore, play it safe or wonder 'what if.' She wanted him. Not needing promises of eternal love, just him inside her.

Clawing at him, threatening to draw blood, she tried to get him to lower himself from where he tauntingly hovered above. Lifting her hips to try to bridge the gap.

"Fuck it Pip, I don't have a condom on me at the moment. If you keep this up, my boys are going to be hunting down your girl."

That brought reality back.

Damn it.

Pausing in his trek down her torso, calloused hands petting her sides, he looked up at her with a spark of hope. "Unless you're on the pill?'

"No."

"Fuck."

Regretfully pulling away, he righted his trunks—traveling down towards his knees and giving her insight to his impressive and intimidating size, should have figured everything about him would be large—and bent down for one last kiss of withheld, agonized longing. "Be right back." Leaving the cabana's concealment only to return an awkward second later, hoodie he had been wearing on arriving at the pool in hand.

On Levy, it was a dress that nearly came down to her knees.

"That will have to do."

"For what?"

"To get you inside and in my room, where we can finish this."

That did sound appealing, though… "Couldn't I just put my suit back on?"

Hands traveling from her ankles to stop at her knees, tugging her towards him for his lips to devour hers on pulling Levy to her feet, he walked her towards the pool's patio. "This is easier to get off." He tried to speak while she wanted nothing more than to climb him like a tree. "Don't think I can last much longer and, fair warning, once inside you, don't think I'm going to make it last more than a minute…for the first round."

First round?

Skin flushed, Levy tried to reach behind her to snatch her suit from where it littered the cabana. Evidence of what had transpired, not sure if he wanted the others to know…and not sure how she was going to handle the situation, seeing that everyone thought she was dating Freed.

Everyone was going to think she was a whore.

Not that, in light of Gajeel pushing her against one of the structure's posts—forgetting his earlier plan as hands that had been cradling her face slowly traveled down her body and began to lift the hoodie's hem upward, she really care how others might perceive her actions.

"Hey, there you are Gajeel. We were looking for you, breakfast is ready and you…are going for a morning swim with Levy?" Natsu stood at the deck's doorway, looking down at the two with obvious confusion. Slanted eyes noticing how Levy righted her borrowed shirt as Gajeel shifted his stance to conceal the sight of her with a near feral growl. Not taking the hint, Natsu stepped towards them with head cocked in contemplation until enlightenment slowly spread across his features. "You guys fucking out here, aren't you?"

Levy's face met the palm of her hand.

* * *

"Levy asked me to cover for the two of them."

The girl in question had mixed desires to both kiss Freed from coming up with a story that served all involved personal purposes and to hide under the dining room's table. Breakfast becoming less of a meal and more about Levy and Gajeel's morning activities.

"Why would you need him to cover for you?" It was obvious that Lucy was trying to be supportive, while—at the same time—answering her question by continuously looking from Levy to Gajeel in barely disguised bafflement.

"It's our business, not yours." Gajeel's voice hadn't softened since Natsu interrupted them. From where he sat beside her, Levy felt a near murderous rage waft from him. Conflicting with the seductive playfulness from her waking. And yet he was still, despite the annoyance it presented, he was still playing along to conceal the truth. Not throwing Freed's secret away for a convenient way out of the conversation. "Didn't want the lot of you digging about our lives."

"But why pretend to date Freed?"

Levy and Freed exchanged looks, it being her turn to talk though she wasn't sure she was able. Embarrassment crippling her voice. "We didn't want to hurt Mirajane's feelings, seeing that she took so much effort into setting us up." She could feel Mirajane's eyes on her at this, sensing the lie but not calling Levy out on it. Possibly worried that Levy would divulge certain information if exposed. "Also, Freed and I enjoy spending time together…so why not hang out?"

It was a weak defense if anything, and impossible to know if the others bought it.

Something Freed sensed, him having the most to lose if the others began to pick apart the fine details. Levy wanted nothing more than to hug him and apology for risking his secret without thought of repercussions.

Maybe Gajeel wasn't the only one ruled by the ID.

"Also, thought you guys would demand Levy get a CAT scan when you found out who she was with." Freed said around a yawn, covering his mouth as he did so and stretching his other arm above his head. "I know I wanted to when she told me what was going on between the two of them."

"It's not that…" Erza took time to perfectly stack the used breakfast plates, giving the three of them subtle glances under her lashes, "we're just concerned about why you felt the need to sneak about like this."

"Speak for yourself. If Gajeel wants to fuck a child, that's between him and his parole board."

Jumping to her feet, Levy held up her hands to press against Gajeel's chest and keep him from approaching where Laxus sat at the table's head.

"Now that everyone knows about us, there's no need for me to impose on Freed." The words came out in a panicked rush, her eyes pleading him to walk away. "How about we move my stuff to your room?" A bold suggestion on her part, but the only one that came to mind and would aid in their cause.

The mention of her in his room made Gajeel's eyes flash and his hand to momentarily cover where hers lingered on the panes of his torso. No longer for restraint reasons, merely enjoying the way the muscles moved under her touch.

"Yeah, guess we could do that."

"Damn it, can I move rooms?" Gray staged whispered. "Don't want to beside the two of them going at it all night."

"Gray-sama can stay with Juvia."

"We have a strict schedule to maintain!" Erza yelled after Gajeel and Levy, being heard above the eruption of the others' comments and idea on the puzzling recent turn of events.

Unfortunately for the redhead, Gajeel had other scheduling ideas. On entering his room, dropping her bags unceremoniously on the floor, he picked Levy up and returned to where they had been interrupted on the patio before.

The hoodie was cast aside, giving Levy no time to become self-conscious before she was stretched out underneath him.

"So…you do…have condoms?" Her voice broke between lips meeting and tasting. Not sure if she found this preparation a good sign or a bad. Either he had intentions for her, or he had planned on getting laid by one means or anything during this time away.

"What can I say, I was hoping to get you naked during this trip."

Good answer.

"Hey! You two!" A rapid secession of knocks on the door made Gajeel release another growl. Hands fisted at the rumpled sheets Levy rested on-at either side of her waist, wanting to lash out where Natsu stood on other side of the door. "Erza sent me up to make sure you were getting ready to join us. So, either make it a quickie or put it on hold and take a dip in the ocean as soon as we get there. Should be cold enough to suit your purposes."

Looking down at where Levy rested beneath him with her bottom lip caught between her teeth, Gajeel clearly contemplated how quick he could be before banishing that thought with a shake of his head.

"Later." The lone word was a heavy promise. "We will continue this later," he added before he carefully climbed off her. Movements appearing pained from where his body had become stiff with a wanting that was aching through Levy's body.

"Don't hear any sexual acts going on…so, going to assume I'm supposed to tell Erza that you'll be done in a bit. That's, unless, maybe Gajeel sucks in bed and Levy sucks at faking it—" Natsu jumped out of the way when Gajeel ripped the door open, putting it in danger of being disconnected from the wall, and attacked the smaller man.

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**[A/N: As usual, please forgive any/all typos.]**

**[I thought it was time to have some Gajeel/Levy development…always worried that such things come from nowhere/are rushed and at war with plot. Hopefully, this is not the case with this chapter. Next chapter: beach fun and—if all goes as I have planned—more Gajeel/Levy.]**


	22. Chapter 17

**[Disclaimer: I don't own anything…This is just for fun!]**

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**17: Being Burned…?**

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"I am so sorry." Levy whispered, pulling Freed aside on the group reaching the beach. This being a semi-private strip of ocean, shared with the limited other house ranging down the line, there was less risk of garbage and loud tourists littering the sand. The shop's group were among the few out and about, not including the rent-a-lifeguard paid by the community's council; and it was safe to say that they wouldn't be gaining much more company. "We were just talking, like you suggested—"

"And, what, he slipped and fell into your vagina?" Freed ran a hand down his face, trying not to look at where Gajeel and Laxus were stripping off their shirts to join Gray and Natsu in some testosterone fueled race. Both giants sending glances over to where Levy and Freed stood, for different reasons. "Don't get me wrong, Levy, I'm glad that you two worked this out, but couldn't you have waited for a better time and not be busted not even one full day into this prophesied debacle?

His antagonizing tone was enough for Levy to forget some of her apologetic manner. "One, do you think I wanted anything to happen as it did? Not only am I mortified, seeing that those guys will _never_ let this go for the next few decades. But our story is so flimsy that a toddler could start filling our wagon sized holes."

"Exactly!" Freed whispered, fingers combing through his disheveled hair.

"Well, and this is my two, if you had been more subtle in your conquests, Gajeel and I wouldn't have been stuck in that freaking cabana all night. I would have gone back to the room and fell asleep reading rather than sleeping—just sleeping, no sex—with him and being found in the morning."

"Found in his hoodie, without anything underneath." The self-righteousness dimmed from his manner long enough to quirk an eyebrow. "Really, nothing happened?"

Levy's face flamed at remembering that morning. "Something would have happened if we weren't interrupted…twice."

"Would congratulate you if this didn't screw me over, be it partially my fault or not."

And the guilt returned. "I don't think they are going to go from our ridiculous lie to end with your interest being elsewhere. My best guess is that they are all thinking I was leading both of you on and ended up with Gajeel. You covering this to save your ego and my 'good' name."

"No one would think you capable of that." Visibly pulling himself together, Freed started gathering his hair into a tidier ponytail at the base of his neck. "Let's just hope confusion will abound and they will focus all their attention on mercilessly teasing Gajeel."

"Really? That's the conclusion you come from this?"

"It's all there is left to do. Like you said, unless I do something stupid—"

"More stupid than bringing Mr. Studly Lifeguard" she nodded towards where the man in question stood at the lookout, "to our private pool?"

"—they will have no reason to conclude anything close to the truth."

"Just think I'm a slut."

"Like I said before, there is no plausible way that would happen. You look like an innocent kitten. The worse they would think about you is a poor taste in men."

"May I say that Gajeel and Laxus share certain temperaments?"

Freed's eyes strayed to wear a cheer of victory soared. Laxus standing out of the waves with a taunting smile. Streams of salt water running off the powerful muscles of his torso. "Laxus is sexier."

Levy looked to where Gajeel was right behind, leaning in comparison to the blonde's bulkier frame. When he caught her looking, Gajeel started making way towards her and Freed's position. "That is debatable."

"What is?" Coming up behind her, Gajeel wrapped an arm about her waist in an offhanded manner. Seeing it as a perfectly legit and natural action. Fingers playing with the fine material of the haltered-wrap-dress Levy was wearing instead of a bathing suit. Having thrown hers in the wash before leaving with the others.

Making her consider buying another one when they went to town later on. Though, then again, with Lucy and Mirajane and Erza running about in tops that barely cupped their assets, doing such might only go against her in comparison.

"Never mind. We were just discussing the nature of ascetics."

Gajeel nodded his head in disbelieving agreement. "Right." Hold tightening, he turned her about to face him, lowering his head to whisper in her ear. "How about we find somewhere we can finish what we started."

"I think, seeing that everyone keeps sending us glances, that won't be likely." Not that she didn't enjoy the feel of his muscular arms about her, but it that was something she had to fight or risk becoming puddy. Warm, gooey puddy for him to mold in his hands the moment his lips met hers.

Not seeming to care if others saw or the cat calls it received. After trying to beat Natsu into a pulp for his second round of interruption, Gajeel seemed to have developed a far more playful mood than Levy had seen him wear in the company of others.

Hand cupping her bottom, he twisted their stance so she was being shielded by his body. "I don't give a fuck what they want. Not when all I can think about is wanting to get you naked and under me."

And, if this didn't before, that would be exactly how she ended.

Breaking away, Levy dropped her head and spent a few moments schooling her features from flustered giddiness.

Freed rolled his eyes at the two's antics.

"I'm…" Clearing her throat, Levy looked back up to Gajeel when she was confident that she wouldn't instantly fall back into his arms. She barely managed. "I'm going to go read. You should continue your manly acts with the boys. Work off some frustration."

"Yeah," The growl had returned to his voice, dark and grating and full of unsated desire than fury. "I have a feeling that there is going to be plenty of that."

Biting her lip, she withheld a sympathetic giggle and returned to the blanket she laid out and the fresh book she had brought down to rest under the sun with. Not realizing the passing of time until a presence settled on the quilt beside her. Cool, calloused fingers brushed over her skin made her shudder.

"I thought you were out playing."

"I was, it's lunch time—everyone decided to go out to town to some 'trendy' bar, didn't ask your thoughts on the matter after the fifth try in gaining your attention—and you have the start of a sunburn. What? Did I rattle that busy brain of yours enough to forget that you're a freaking snow cone?"

Putting down the book she was already half-way through, Levy's mind finally registered that the only reason Gajeel's skin felt so cool was that hers had started to redden. "Ouch," more saying from observation than yet feeling the pain. That would follow.

"Here." Digging in the tote bag Levy had thought to bring along, though indeed forgetting to use, Gajeel removed a bottle of sunscreen and settled behind where she sat. Legs framing her and sending a delicious shiver of remembrance on the last time they had been in this position. Just a few hours ago. "You guys go ahead, we'll catch-up." He called over to the others while squeezing a handful of lotion onto his palm.

"Yeah, sure you will." Laxus said to the sky.

"We'll just wait." Mirajane added. Out of all the others, she was the only shop member who didn't seem to take the fragile cover-story at face value. Probably because she was the only one Levy had confined in prior to the trip. Sitting on the steps that led down from the pool patio to the beach.

Levy flinched when the icy lotion came in contact with her flesh. "Whatever," Gajeel muttered as he kneaded Levy's shoulders and back with more care than she thought him able. Doing things to the rest of her body that he was far from touching.

Occupying her mind from certain sensations, Levy snagged the bottle and began work on her face, legs, and the hint of chest her dress exposed.

"Damn it, Pip, that's the best part." Done with her arms, shoulders, and back, his hands spanned her waist.

"And the others are still watching."

There was a nip at her earlobe before Gajeel stood, and causing Levy to stumble when she followed suit. Legs uncertain and wobbled even under her slight weight burden.

A chuckle sounded beside her. "Can't be helped." Reaching over, his hand found its way into hers. Fingers twined together as he lead the way toward where the others were impatiently waiting for them.

Some, namely Natsu and Gray and Erza, had begun hurling cannonballs into the pool while waiting the two out. Lucy and Jellal played at refereeing, holding up paper plates with their individual scores.

"Are you sure you'd rather go out with them then stay here, alone, with me?" Gajeel murmured to her before reaching where Mirajane remained on the step.

Truth: No, she wasn't. Not even close.

But that seemed the safer bet. A means to maintain a semblance of her good name. The apathy from that morning, when she had been caught off-guard by lusting passion, had dispersed and was returned with her usual self-conscious thoughts.

Nearly crippling.

As if she was being torn in two: between the desires of the flesh she never thought she could possess and the insecurity of the mind.

Question was, which one would come out victorious?

* * *

Vinegar, the grandmother's remedy for a sunburn.

Levy washed with it before taking an official shower some time later, when Natsu made a comment about her smelling like Easter eggs. This led to the others having a spontaneous night of coloring hard boiled eggs for his amusement while Levy went upstairs and tried to cover her fermented scent with something more preferable.

Mind and body still at war didn't stop her from not wanting to be considered gross.

Lathering up and rinsing off several times with a special soap Mirajane gave her, a high-end brand that was to aid the skin, Levy kept her eyes closed for most of the time to protect their interior from the suds.

Causing her to miss the moment when Gajeel entered, leaning a shoulder against the frame of the open door leading to their shared bedroom—changed from swim trunks to jeans and a ribbed tank before dinner had been served, and nearly tripped through the shower's glass and onto the tiled floor.

He caught her before it came to that, draping a towel about her—the fleecy material covering her from chest to past-knee—before picking her up and placing her on the counter. "Sorry, came up here to tell you the guys decided to have a hunt. They wanted to know if you were interested."

"Why didn't you say something sooner?"

He gave her a fanged grin. "And deny myself of the sight?" Fingertips drifted down her cheek and to her neck. Caressing her arm from shoulder to wrist. "See your skin is going to be alright. No more 'ouch'?"

Levy could just shake her head.

"Do you want to join them with their juvenile game?"

Again, a head shake.

"Good." Dipping his head, he captured her mouth. Nearly sweeping Levy away in seconds before her mind was able to catch back-up with the recent development, right as Gajeel went to unravel the towel from her body.

Closing her eyes, her hands rested by the base of his neck and shook her head. "Wait."

"What's the matter?"

"You."

"Me?"

"I want to see you." Eyes not able to meet him, despite her request, Levy's fingers went to play with his belt loops. "I want to see all of you." She verified, finding the courage to lift her head the barest of centimeters. During all this, she always seemed to get so swept away with what he was doing to her, that she forgot she had no knowledge or experience to start to figure what to do to him.

He stroked her face with the back of his hand before tilting back her chin so their gazes locked. "Alright." Holding her eyes, he slowly removed the tank. Letting the white material fall to the floor before starting work on his belt. The actions causing her become hypnotized to the perfection of his body, made strong from practicality rather than the vanity of some.

There were also scars, rigid expanses that spanned over sun-darkened skin that somehow added to his attraction rather than diminished it by the slightest degree.

Stepping out of his jeans, he rested his palms onto the sink's side in nothing but black boxer-briefs. Kissing her, delicately, before removing the final garment with no embarrassment nor hesitation, not that he had any reason for such. The man was beautiful. Not a 'pretty' boy Freed tended to be, but raw masculinity that would make any conscious, red-blooded woman yearn after.

He was far from a disadvantage naked, the man could be made of marble.

Blush spanned Levy's face as she took in the sight, her hands lightly touching him at places before her nails barely brushed along the head of his stiff penis.

"Careful," Gajeel groaned, capturing her hands before she tried something more involved. "Don't want to come until I'm inside you." He explained, reaching behind her—into the vanity's medicine cabinet—to pull out a black box Levy knew to be full of condoms.

There was nothing but complete certainty in his voice as he ripped open a foil packet.

"Gajeel, you know that I don't know how to…" Levy trailed off, eyes memorized by the act of him rolling the latex down his considerable length. Levy's research continued long after entering the shop, she knew the size most porn star men aimed for, through pumps and cosmetic adjustments. Something that Gajeel came by naturally.

"Trust me, you don't have to." Condom on, he carried her into their bedroom. "Just being yourself is enough to get me at my limit." Sitting her on the mattress edge, he finally removed the towel and ran her hands along her body. Neck to ankle. Teeth grazing along the arch of her foot before spinning her about to lay on top the blanket.

She started to shake when his weight joined her, biceps bunching from holding the majority of it off her.

"Sorry, like I said, this time…don't think I can last long."

Normally, at times like this—in the romance novels Levy indulged in, the male lead would promise to stop if there was pain or pause after the initial thrust to wait for the woman to adjust while kissing away tears and whispering endearments.

Not in this case.

Gajeel entered her with one shift act and started moving in slow strokes, mirroring his fingers actions from that morning, grabbing her hip to change the angle of his entrance as he went to alleviate some of the stretched pressure.

The pain was enough to cause Levy to gasp.

And short lived in light of the sensations Gajeel created to arise in her.

Nails once more found leverage in his shoulders, feeling blood well underneath them, as she fell into the rhythm Gajeel set.

"That's it." He grunted in approval. Despite his disclaiming comment, it was well past the warned minute and he was still moving within her. Faster than before but still with obvious restraint. "Just like before, let go and let me hear you come."

She did just that, crying out and riding through the release as Gajeel, taking her actions as cue, increased his speed and drove her deeper into the mattress. Veins of his neck cording as he threw back his head and ground his teeth before sinking above her suddenly boneless body.

Where they remained, him still inside her. Stroking hair, damp from sweat, from her face before kissing her forehead. An oddly chaste action, their current positions considered. "Don't fall asleep on me yet." His order was gentle, but an order all the same. Rolling them about so they were on their sides. Facing one another.

Yawning, Levy fought to keep her eyes open. Weariness had overcome and the only thing her mind seemed aware of was the throbbing stretch of her body from Gajeel's erection stiffening once more.

Again?

Already.

Thoughts she must have spoken out loud, seeing that Gajeel chuckled once more. Hands palming her ass, pulling her in closer. Making her gasp from the hint of a thrust. "Already told you." Fangs skimmed over her breast. "You alone are enough to make me hard." His tongue lolled over a nipple. Levy could feel how the slow lick made her flesh pebble. "And we are just getting started."

And there he was, taking over the situation once more.

Pressing her hand into the mattress, Levy made her intention known and Gajeel aided in her climbing on top him. Straddling his waist and looking down at where he laid beneath her. Looking more than a little smug at the sight this gained him. Lowering her head, Levy initiated the kiss, trying to mimic Gajeel's actions from times before. Exploring him and taking in his taste. Her hands sprawled down his abs.

Even then, with him on bottom and her taking control of the matter, it was still understood who was in charge of their interaction. The rough pad of Gajeel's thumb traveled between their bodies, easing through her slit and began to rub in agonizing slow circles.

Levy's hands found their way to her chest, following his tongue's and teeth's example, as Gajeel's crimson eyes bore into her.

"God, if you're not the sexiest thing I ever saw." Bracing himself up on his elbows, she nearly cried out when his thumb ceased it's treacherously glorious administrations and his chin dug into her sternum. His face centimeters under hers. Taking her hands into his, Gajeel locked them behind Levy's back. Their joined fists pressed into the small of her spine as he thrust up into her once more. "If I had known you were such a fuckingly coy wild cat, I would have brought cuffs."

"Only cuffs?" She strained to gain his lips once more; her mind linking them with essentials such as air. Fingers, free of his hold when his hands needed to gain better friction by grasping her cheeks, knotting about his hair, already tangled and being weighed down with sweat like hers, she withheld a scream when one particular jerk of his hips sent lights flashing through her mind. "When you have an entire porn shop at your disposal?"

"Wouldn't waste you with anything else. All the toys I need are the ones you have to offer."

If it was possible, she felt him growing in size on resting her back down on the mattress, caging her underneath him once more. Her hands white-knuckled the bars of the headboard as the bed's frame protested to the carnal actions taking place on it.

Gajeel bore into her and did nothing than hold her eyes. Finger stroking her eyelids every time ecstasy wanted her to close off her sight and dig her head back into the pillow...and, somehow, that made the experience all the more intense.

"Beautiful," he whispered, witnessing her finally fall under climax's lure. Once more only allowing himself to reach completion when he knew she was sated. This time, he didn't press her to remain awake rather than find dark oblivion of slumber.

Only to jolt awake what felt like the next moment, under the tangled blankets.

The clock on the nightstand read hours after she remembered last seeing it…and the bed was empty.

Cold.

A note scrolled beside the digital surface reading: _Emergency came up…Will call you._

Levy didn't need a book reference to know that this was a sure sign of one thing…

She had been burned in more than one way that day without seeing either coming.

* * *

**[A/N: As always, please forgive any/all typoes.]**

**[Sorry, might be redoing some of this chapter later, just wanted to get it posted before work. Let me know what you think?]**


	23. Intermission 5

**[Disclaimer: I own nothing…This is just for fun!]**

* * *

**Intermission 5: Not Elizabeth and Darcy…**

* * *

Let it be known that, as a rule, Gajeel didn't make practice of watching a woman as she slept. In fact, his normal practice was to come and then go…receiving him a few scars from pissed women who didn't think he had been serious about his disclaimer before the fucking commenced.

He saw that whole 'watching your _partner_ sleep' idea to be more than a little creeper, enough to make his skin curl every time he heard women getting wet at the idea of some vampire dude creeping into their room to watch their slumbering faces.

Meanwhile, he almost had to do six months in Juvie for a breaking-and-entering misunderstanding. Where was the justice in that?

Also, let it be known, that he had fallen asleep—far be it a frustrated one—after Levy had drifted off. He had so much more in mind, working his way up the intensity level with her inexperience in mind and the knowledge that her body would not be thanking her come morning…though he had planned on allowing it to thank him. Yet he saw drowsiness weighing down her lids and didn't seem able to press her to remain awake. Rather, he tucked her under the blankets and curled around her…

Another oddity for him. Though, he blamed that for the allowance it gave his hands to roam about her body. Taking in the surprisingly curvaceous form her petite stature left undetected. Her ass fit perfectly against his groin and he fell asleep before he had to crawl out of bed and start jerking off in one intensely cold shower.

A problem that hadn't gone away from when he woke a few hours later, Levy now pillowed on his chest so her breasts pressed into his stomach. Her head rising and falling with his breathing with a halo of blue hair fanned out. Ticking his skin.

Not able to handle it anymore, he was about to wake her when his phone—the treacherous bastard—rang. Causing Levy to make a soft squeak of protest and her head to subtly jerk. Despite his earlier desires. Gajeel's one hand instantly smoothed down her hair, soothing her back to sleep, while his other hurried to answer the phone's call to end the noise. Not even bothering to look at the number

"This better be fucking good." His voice was a soft growl, not wanting to frighten Levy into near waking again…where had that thought come from? "Death or hospital, those are all I am accepting at the moment."

"Well, lucky for me, it's the second of the two." An aged voice said from the line's other end, the faint sounds of people moving about and talking mingling with his words.

Carefully, he moved Levy's weight onto the mattress before climbing to his feet. Padding to the bathroom stark naked and shutting the door before replying. "Markov? Why are you calling me at…"A quick glance to the clock-night-light all the bathroom's had, "two in the fucking morning."

"Because, rather than sleeping, I got a call from a certain doctor friend of mine about your little brother being dropped off in the ER—"

Nearly dropping the phone, Gajeel gathered the clothing he had discarded earlier. "I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"It's an hour drive."

"Twenty minutes." Gajeel hung up the phone, not able to juggle it with pulling on his tank over his head, and hurried into the bedroom to get his bike keys.

Stopping at the sight of where Levy still laid out on the bed.

Fuck.

Finger combing his hair in aggravation, he tied it into a sloppy knot at the base of his neck as his mind reeled on how to handle this situation.

Normally, as aforementioned, he would be long gone and far from caring how it would affect the woman of that particular night.

Yet, he found himself caring very much how Levy would perceive this exit…

Damn it all to Hell, this was fresh territory to him…and his brother was in the hospital, probably from doing something stupid in regards to the whole Jose fuck-fest.

Fine…

Whatever…

Let's do this…

Ripping a piece of paper from the notebook in the central drawer of the desk, he scribbled out a brief explanation and placed it where Levy was sure to see. He'd call her later and apologize. But, for now, that would have to do.

He had to get going.

* * *

"What the fuck were you thinking?" Gajeel asked for about the twentieth time since he had broken through the barricade of surprisingly strong nurses to enter the rooms beyond the reception area. Markov, having been called in as Rogue's emergency contact—being one for both brothers as a condition of his aid when Gajeel came to him over three years ago…replacing Rogue's disgruntled manager for that title, had earned instant access. While Gajeel, Rogue's brother and only living blood-family, was being treated like a crazed groupie.

The hazards of being related to a celebrity.

Even after fighting his way through Rogue's devoted fans of the medical world, he then had a shit load of legal personnel to remind himself not to punch on his way to the designated room.

Yes, he was aware that he couldn't release this information to third parties.

Yes, he was aware that—brother or not—doing so would lead to him facing legal charges.

Yes, he was aware that he couldn't go storming about, coming and going as he please…and he also had no intention to following through with this tidbit.

By this point, the pencil-neck lawyer began to suffer a strong case of spinelessness and scurried away before Gajeel's thin tether of restraint finally snapped. Something that happened the moment he entered the secured room and saw the state Rogue was in.

Even after the swelling went down and the bruises faded, whoever was in charge of making his face camera ready before a concert was going to find his or her work far harder than it had been before.

"What the FUCK were you thinking?" Gajeel's fist went to smash into the wall, an action that that a withered fist caught and stopped.

"This is solving nothing."

"Would make me feel better." Gajeel growled down at Markov.

"I'm the cause of all this—"

Wrong thing to say. Gajeel, teeth bared, whirled onto where his brother was struggling to recline his bed. "And you thought that I wasn't working fast enough…so you would call in Markov and then—when he didn't pull another magical rabbit out his ass—you saw it fit to take a far more hands on approach. Do I have to remind you what happened last time that brilliant idea entered your mind?"

"Gajeel, this isn't helping anything."

"It's making me feel better." Sinking onto the lone chair that room had to officer, stingy decor seeing how much Rogue was going to pay for the security measure of a posh private room, Gajeel scrubbed fatigue and anger from his face. "I could still be in bed, having mind-blowing sex, instead I have to find out my brother got the shit beat out of him cause he, what, thought he could talk Jose out of a grudge?"

Markov coughed into his hand, a not so subtle cover for the words that followed. "More like pay."

"What?"

"I thought that…seeing that all this started because of money…I could—"

"You. Fucking. Idiot."

"Mountains and mole hills and all that." Markov stood between where the two brothers glared at each other. "Can't undo that now, all that we should be discussing is what to do now that the situation has changed. Jose has upped the stakes and we need to figure how best to use the shift for our advantage."

"No. Just the two of us." Gajeel pointed at Rogue. "He's getting out of town the moment the hospital clears him and his ass of a partner shows to take him away."

"Agreed."

"Hey!" Rogue looked at the two men. "Don't act like I'm some kid, I have a say in this as much as you guys."

"No you don't. That right was removed to the idiocy clause I invoke now." Gajeel snapped, resting the back of his head against the walls. "If you're stupid enough to try to pay of the Phantom Lord, than the best thing you can do for the whole is getting out of the line of fire."

"It is for the best." Markov said gentler, but not with less resolve. "Your brother and I will clear the matter. Like last time."

"Yes, because—obviously—that worked so well then."

"Better than your solution."

"It was Levy, wasn't it?"

"What?"

"The girl you could be having sex with rather than dealing with me."

"That's none of your business."

"Will you two stop bickering?!" Markov almost seemed to swell in size as he chastised the brothers as if they were little boys misbehaving during a long car ride. "I'll call Laxus at the beach house, let them know that fumigation is done. No use in spending the money on a vacation when this has gone beyond the realms of scoping out the situation and buying time."

At least something good came from this. He might be able to get Levy alone without a house full of people monitoring their every move.

Yeah, maybe his priorities were a bit twisted.

* * *

Gajeel was starting if question his mental state and his priorities were truly and profoundly twisted when, four days later, he found that his concerns about Jose and possible nefarious plans—things Gajeel knew far too well could be murderous and depraved in nature—had fallen as the primary focus of his mind behind the fact that Levy was avoiding him.

Returning none of his calls and ignoring the requests to meet up that he left on her voice mail.

Side-stepping him at work, their schedules remaining opposite and her managing to be clocked-out and freshly gone before Gajeel came in.

Acting as if they hadn't spent a night together. Which seemed odd to him seeing that it had been her first time and, from experience, that usually meant the tendency to cling. Something Gajeel hated in a woman…but wouldn't have minded in Levy's case. Having her cling to him might have created some very interesting encounters at work.

Something he had been hoping towards before the avoidance began.

What was her problem?

Was she embarrassed?

Mad?

Had he been too rough with her?

He had tried to be careful, taking her delicate frame into consideration…in the beginning. But when it became apparent, or he thought it to be apparent, that she was enjoying being treated less like porcelain and more like a desirable woman, he eased on his restraint.

Maybe he had read her wrong.

All he knew that his skin was beginning to itch from wanting nothing more than to get her underneath him once more, either in the intimacy of private or—as the days went on—the audience of public. And he didn't take well from receiving the silent treatment.

There was too much tension in his life as it was without adding this to the list…especially when she looked far too hot fuming about. A sight he gained when coming into the shop an hour early and saw Levy's expression changed from smiling at something Lucy said to a deadpan mask of displeasure on seeing his arrival through the front door.

Making a break for the employee section when he entered the store.

"What happened between you two?" Lucy asked, head whipping between where Levy had disappeared and Gajeel had entered. "Everything was fine that then, the last day at the beach, she said you had to go back early because something came up. Nothing else." The words came out in a rush as she walked down the counter's length to keep level with his journey to the door. "And now she can hardly stand saying your name. I know the story about you two secretly dating is a lie, but I also know that she has liked you for a while…so I didn't say anything, seeing that it seemed you two were good for each other. So what did you do?"

"When I figure it out, Bunny Girl, I'll let you know." Door shutting behind him, Gajeel went into the office to find Levy routing through her locker for something unknown, probably just looking for an excuse to hide back there until he had left. As if going into a restricted section of the shop would stop him from following her.

Mirajane and Laxus were nowhere in sight. Whoever was in charge for the shift was probably out for lunch.

"I don't want to talk to you." She said without looking at him, only changing her body stance so her ass ceased taunting him from where she had it stuck in the air.

"Too bad, 'cause that's what we're going to do." Taking station in the doorway, he blocked off her only means of exit. "Care to enlighten me on what I did to piss you off?"

"I am not some sex toy!" Slamming the locker shut with enough force for the door to bounce back open, Levy tried to stare him down and…when that failed…began to pace about. "Originally, when you moved the classic move of taking advantage of my sleeping state to slip away, I thought you just used me for sex…that now that I gave it away—like some whore without even putting on the pretenses of being a lady and waiting at least three dates—you were done with me. Then, you called…and it became clear that you want me to be some off sex friend or convenient means to get off. Despite my lapse in judgment of late, I am not a skanky slut who spreads her legs whenever a guy calls."

Gajeel didn't know if he should laugh or yell at her. He settled on the middle ground of walking over to where she raved and picked her off the ground to settle on top of the filing cabinet.

"What do you think you're doing? Get your hands off me!" Small fists fought at his unyielding arms and chest to gain freedom, caged in against him once settled on the flimsy metal. "This is the kind of touching that you are not allowed! I vowed to hate you for all eternity and…I am not Elizabeth and you are far from Darcy…so I will continue to hold onto that resolve. Now. Put. Me. Down."

"Not till I get to talk. You passed your speaking quota for the moment and now I get to speak. One, wasn't aware that the position of 'sex toy' was an option—"

"This is not a joke!"

Gajeel pressed her lips together and continued. "I didn't have a plan for the future when we had sex, but it definitely wasn't to leave. If you haven't noticed, I'm about as experienced with the concept of relationships as you are with sex—though you seem to be a quick study in your area of lacking while I remain a novice in mine. I am also not a mind reader. If you had issue with our lack of convention, why didn't you just tell me?"

"When would I have time?" Levy's lips moved against his fingers, tears of either sorrow or rage brimming her eyes. Gajeel released his hold on her mouth to wipe at them.

"When you answered any of my phone calls."

"You left—"

"Because my brother was in the hospital."

That took a bit of Levy's self-righteous winds from her sails. "Why didn't you put that in your note?"

"Wasn't thinking about writing you a novel, too busy trying to plan out the quickest route to see if my brother was alright. Thought I could just tell you the details later when I called."

"Oh."

"Right, oh." One hand traveled down to her waist while the other cupped the back of her neck. The tip of Gajeel's nose traveled down the slope of hers. "Now that we have that cleared up, let's get back to the reason I made all those calls."

"Are you kidding me?" Pulling her head back, Levy's fury returned. "You think that we talk and then, just like that, I have my skirt around my hips and letting you screw me in the office?"

That was exactly what he had been hoping. Though he now sensed the danger in admitting to that.

"How about this, a date?"

"A date."

"A real date, we'll do whatever you want to do and then—"

"No sex."

"Fine, we'll go on a date and not have sex afterwards." His thumb tapped her chin, kissing the space between her brows. "I'll drop you off at the door, with only a kiss for a good night. Just like a gentlemen in one of your books. Will even wear a suit if you want."

"Whatever I want, honest?"

Gajeel was too busy wondering why he felt so relieved about her beginning to show signs of give to note the sharp spark in her eyes. "Honest."

"And sex is off the table?"

"Yes." Well, that was painful to say.

"Alright, we'll go on a date tomorrow night. Wear a suit." Levy's lips fought off the desire to smile. Gajeel couldn't resist pressing his lips to one of the up-turned corners.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I think I wondered into the wrong area. This is not the Chinese restaurant that is known for its moo shu pork, right?"

Gajeel's hands fell from Levy, instinctively turning his back to shield her on seeing the smiling man standing at his recent post in the door's frame.

Tall.

Pale.

Dark purple hair worn in a ponytail and the same hue as the mustache framing his thin lips.

It had been three years since Gajeel had seen the Phantom Lord, his former employer. Not that he allowed emotion to show in his tone on addressing the question. "No, this isn't. This area is off limits for the public. Please leave."

"Of course. Of course. Sorry to interrupt what heard to be the middle of you two's making very special plans. By the way, you make a very cute couple. Nearly glow with love." With that he left.

"Have to say, have seen a lot of weird stuff since starting here." Levy tried to laugh the occurrence off, not naïve enough to miss that something wrong had occurred. If not able to put voice to what exactly. "That might be a new level of creepy."

Facing her once more, Gajeel placed his hands onto her hips to help her back to the floor. Pressing a kiss to her forehead during the act. "So, what time should I get you tomorrow?" Trying to make the question sound normal and hide the way his arms wanted to shake and pull her near.

Vowing not to let her out of his sight for the days to follow.

Now that Jose would be looking for another target on realizing his treatment towards Rogue failed to bring the desired response from Gajeel and was no longer in play, safely locked away with his team of highly paid security officers. Something Levy lacked, but Gajeel refused to allow her to be perceived as vulnerable to any outside party.

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**[A/N: As always, please forgive any/all typoes.]**


	24. Important Author's Note--Part Two

**Important Author's Note:**

Hello!

I know you guys are probably wondering what is going on with the newest update. Unfortunately, I am without a computer at the moment. (Am borrowing a friend's to get this notice out.) Hopefully, this will be cleared up by next week, just didn't want anyone to think I gave up on this story.

There will be an update as soon as I am able.

Thank-you for your understanding and patience.


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